Breathless
by jadereesee
Summary: With the end of the world came the question of morality- who was to decide what was wrong and right? The struggle was one that every survivor held within them. After running to help save a group of survivors, Amity found herself wondering if it had been better when she was on her own. Caring made things harder. But the group, and one in particular, won't let her just walk away.
1. Chapter 1

"Cierra, I'm taking my lunch break now!" A woman's voice echoed through the lounge area of the small office building just before the owner of the voice appeared, her red hair pulled back into an elegant bun as she used her only free hand to smooth down the dark material of her pencil skirt.

"I've only got about a half an hour until my next client, but I should be able to pop into Marie's down the street for a coffee or someth-" Her voice trailed off as she finally turned blue eyes to the empty room, obviously confused by being the only one there.

"Cierra?" The woman called out, taking a step forward, heels clacking against the tiled floor as she looked around the space- it wasn't as if the young woman she was looking for could be hidden behind the coffee maker though.

"What the hell?" She asked herself, voice just a whispered murmur as she moved towards the reception desk where she had been expecting her hired secretary to be sat waiting to take calls and handle appointments. The redhead gently ghosted her fingers over the large calendar that sat in the middle of the desk, snagging a neon green sticky note from the top of it that had the familiar scrawl of her friend and employee jotted across it.

"Amity, Andrew came and picked me up. He wouldn't let me say goodbye, but told me that it was an emergency. I'm _so_ sorry! He says we're going to Atlanta- the government is sending us all to nearby safe zones so you need to join us after you find this! Forget the plant, just pack and go. Kiss, Kiss. CiCi." The woman read the note aloud to herself, disbelief evident in her voice as she looked at the piece of paper in her hand. It wasn't like her friend to pull a stunt like this, but being furious was the least of her worries as her phone began to buzz in her pocket.

Looking down at the touch screen, the redhead read the emergency alert that was causing her phone to vibrate and her heart nearly jumped into her throat.

 _Virus_? Like the one that had been talked about on the news lately?

Amity had just assumed that there was an increase in people snorting bath salts and the news was just blowing it out of proportion for a good news story, but here she was standing alone in her office with a note from her closest friend telling her to go to a safe zone.

" _Fuck,_ " Amity hissed to herself before turning on heel and walking swiftly back into her office. The woman quickly gathered up her purse, stuffing only her large notebook that contained her most recent research into it, ignoring the diagnostic manuals that laid on her desk as she snatched her keys from the bag as well.

All but speed walking out of the small building, the young woman double tapped the button on her key fob that had her brand new 370 Z roaring to life as she locked the doors of the building behind her, not even bothering to glance at the sign that held her last name and the words, "Psychological Services."

Speeding down the nearly empty roads of her small town, Amity worked to keep her mind from jumping to the worst conclusions.

On the outside, the woman was calm and collected, taking turns sharply but staying cautious as there were a few cars speeding down the road that were driving even more recklessly than she was.

People were panicking.

" _Shit_ ," the woman cursed again- the profanities that randomly fell from her lips being the only sign of her distress.

Finally, she had pulled up in front of a simple two-story house that was obviously her own as she quickly entered the residence with a key on her small keychain.

Once the door was closed behind her, it was then that the redhead let herself have a moment of panic. Her breathing kicked up a notch and she quickly tore her hair down from its perfect bun as she kicked her heels off. Her slender hands covered her eyes for a moment but almost as quickly as they did so, they were falling away and the woman was nodding to herself.

Amity Walker was not going to go into _any_ situation unprepared.

Bounding up the steps to her bedroom, she quickly stripped her work clothes from her body, replacing the pencil skirt and blouse with a sturdy pair of dark skinny jeans and flowy peach tank top as the Georgia summer was still in full swing. Quickly, she grabbed a surprisingly sturdy looking duffel bag from her closet- the dark material looking out of place in her pristine white room- and began to stuff it full of clothes. Only then did she turn from the bag and dart into her bathroom to grab hygiene items- some needed only once a month while the others were to hopefully put her ahead of the game in cleanliness when she reached the refugee center.

Once her bag was packed, the woman paused for a moment, seemingly thinking something over before she knelt down and tugged a large black hard plastic case from under her bed. Setting it on her mattress, she undid the clasps with a loud click and sighed a bit at the sight of the compound bow sitting pretty inside of it.

Upon opening the case Amity could have sworn that she caught a strong smell of the woods and could remember the day that her dad had handed her the damned thing crystal clear as if it had happened only the day before.

She had been a daddy's girl growing up- there was no doubt about that. Born and raised on a farm in the backwoods of Georgia, her father had made sure that both of his children, Amity along with her older brother, Michael, were able to fend for themselves both in life and in the woods. Never did he treat Amity like she was incapable of handling herself, throwing her on her first pony at the age of four and having her help both himself and Michael with the cattle by the time she was eight.

Her brother hadn't followed her daddy's line of thinking though.

No, Michael Walker was as overprotective as they came and Amity was honestly surprised that the man wasn't on her doorstep already with everything that had been happening, but then again, it wasn't like North Carolina was only a hop, skip, and a jump away.

While she thought over her family of men, Amity had already attached her quiver to the bow and situated it in her grasp before hooking her duffel bag over her shoulder and rushing down the stairs.

Just as she was about to push open the door of her home, the woman caught a bright spot of green out of the corner of her eye and turned, looking at her beautiful potted succulent sitting on her coffee table. She had been nursing the thing since her first day of college when her brother's girlfriend gifted it to her and it had done nothing but grown since.

Her mind jumped back to the note that was left in her office, specifically to the part where Cierra told her to "forget the plant" and nearly sighed.

Once again in her car, Amity tried to set the GPS on her phone to the Atlanta Aquarium, figuring that the refugee center would be somewhere in the center of the city, but let out a loud curse when she realized that her service was completely down. Now she couldn't even call her brother- or Cierra who she suddenly realized she should have called in the beginning when she found her missing.

She was an idiot, but there was no time to dwell.

Backing out of her driveway, the redhead gripped her steering wheel and was suddenly thankful that she had filled up her tank that morning as she began to navigate her way down what she hoped was her usual route into Atlanta.


	2. Chapter 2

Atlanta was a bust.

Amity knew that from the moment she saw the smoke cloud in the distance. She couldn't tell how long ago the city had been attacked, but she could tell it wasn't exactly recent.

The woman fought against the bile that rose up in her throat at the thought of everyone in the city who had been seeking sanctuary or simply living their lives being gone- just like that.

They were nothing but numbers and statistics on a screen to someone somewhere that was calling the shots on this thing and yet Amity found herself still driving towards the ruined city that she once frequented for days out with her friends.

Before long, a knocking sound had the redhead looking at the dashboard of her vehicle as if it would tell her what was going on and sure enough, it did. She was running on fumes.

With a hiss of anger, Amity pushed open her car door and looked at the scenery around her with a bit of frustration.

Trees, trees, and more trees.

At this point, the woman didn't even know where she was aside from the fact that Atlanta was one way and her home was the other.

Frustration drove the woman to kick the tire of her car once then twice, suddenly thankful for the hiking books that she had donned as she could barely feel anything when she had done so.

Snatching her bag and bow from the passenger seat, Amity set them on top of the car so that she could reach in and grab the small handgun she kept in her glove box after getting her concealed carry license (at the request of her brother) when she turned twenty-one seven years prior. Luckily, since then it had only been used for recreational purposes at a shooting range.

Slipping it into her pocket and stashing the extra ammo in her duffel bag, Amity took a deep breath, eyes trained on the smoking horizon before she got to stepping.

* * *

It had been about two months, give or take a few days thanks to the lack of a phone calendar that she had so relied on, since Amity had abandoned her car on the side of the road.

Her _brand new_ car- the car that she had been saving up to buy, not that she was bitter or anything.

Of course not.

The soles of her hiking boots slapped against the hot pavement, the makeup that she had been wearing the day she left her hometown was now long since washed away, leaving her blues eyes looking darker though her eyebrows sparser.

Again, the woman found herself thanking whatever gods were up there for helping her think to don her hiking boots along with thick socks as she knew her trek would have been a hell of a lot harder without them. At least _part_ of her plan had suited her well since for some reason extra fuel slipped her mind.

"What I wouldn't give for a hot shower and a California roll." The woman muttered to herself, knowing that her words were ridiculous, but the heart wants what the heart wants.

Readjusting the bow in her hand then, Amity paused as she suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck and arms stand to attention, the chill of danger in the air having her on the defensive almost immediately.

She drew back her bow, ignoring the way the strings ate at her now callused fingers without her release which had apparently been broken weeks before the world decided to end. The backpack that she had traded her duffel bag for sat comfortably on her shoulders and in that moment she was glad that she had tucked her water bottle away so that her hands were free.

The redhead stood quietly, striking a fierce picture against the nearly set sun as her eyes narrowed in concentration, scanning the woods around her. She heard a shuffle and some moaning and nearly laughed at herself, ridiculously relieved as no one should ever be when they realize that the feeling they had was nothing more than the _dead_ walking by.

No big deal at all.

After leaving her car, Amity had quickly become acquainted with exactly what the virus that swept the nation entailed.

Sure, she knew from the beginning that it made people turn into cannibalistic loons thanks to the reports on the news, but that didn't prepare her when she stumbled across a woman who was literally rotting but still walking towards her.

She had watched the thing as it groaned and moaned, seemingly becoming excited by Amity's appearence. The woman found herself asking _how_.

How could a virus do this to people? She had studied the brain her entire career- she knew what it could do and the miracles it could preform, but _this_?

They were **_dead_**.

Now, Amity was used to the stumbling nuisance that the walking dead had become.

When they were in groups of two or less than she barely even worried about taking them on. It was the ones that were hidden or formed small packs that you had to worry about.

The woman took a step forward then before freezing once more as the groaning grew louder and she spotted not one but five undead stumbling into the road up a ways from her.

Immediately the woman ducked down low, moving behind an abandoned pontiac to avoid being seen as more and more of the bastards made their way out of the woods and across the road. Amity was just relieved to see that they were continuing on their merry way.

"That's right, fuckers. Keep on walking," she said to herself, keeping her bow steady and ready just in case.

As the last one stumbled into the woods on the other side of the road, Amity finally stood with a small groan and stretched out her lower back that was aching from her squatting for so long. Maybe she would meet a chiropractor around and trade him a squirrel for a realignment?

At that, Amity couldn't help but let out a small snort of amusement at herself.

Her mirth didn't last long though as just as she turned from the car, about to continue on down the road- a shrill scream sounded from what seemed to be further up the mountain from where she was currently.

It was only once she was already tearing through the forest at breakneck speed that the woman began to realize that maybe helping a random stranger in the dead of night would be detrimental to her own survival.

 _Oh well, too late to turn back now._

Tripping into a clearing, the screams of the large group of surprisingly alive people reached Amity's ears and she realized that the numbers of living in that group were going down fast.

"Shit!" She cursed to herself, immediately drawing an arrow and sending it through the skull of an undead that was right in front of an african-american woman who looked at her with wide eyes.

Not pausing to chat, Amity continued on her way and to her utter dismay and confusion, the woman spotted a child of all things huddled with another child and a couple of women, the man in front of them yelling at them to stay close.

It was only once the man turned to shoot one of the things stumbling too close to the brunette woman that Amity spotted one of the undead about to take a chunk out of his forearm. Swiftly she released another arrow, skewering it right through the eye and drawing the attention of the man who looked at her like she was a new species.

"Keep going!" Amity all but shrieked at him, kicking one of the undead in the chest as it stumbled towards her.

"Get to the RV!" The man shouted at those around him in response, not sparing Amity another glance as he cocked his gun and shot another one of the things in the head.

Amity rushed to join a different man who was cracking undead skulls like they were softballs with the bat in his hand, unsheathing the knife that she had tucked away in her belt after finding it in a car about a month before and jabbed it into the temple of one of things, ignoring how its hands grabbed for her throat.

As she went for another, she was surprised to see it drop in front of her with a bullet hole through its head.

Looking over, she spotted a man jogging her way as the last few shots were fired and the last few undead were put down forever. He looked at her like she had brought this plague on herself- maybe he thought that she had? The man was a good head and a half taller than Amity and wearing a sleeveless shirt with a crossbow strapped to his back.

"Who the fuck are ya?" He snarled and immediately Amity's temper flared up, her teeth nearly baring as she all but squared up to the man, but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

She jerked away from the touch, immediately on the defense as her bow rose, but she was met with the eyes of the man that she had stopped from losing a piece of his arm.

"I'd like to know that too." He said, voice carefully trained into a tone that Amity knew was meant to be soothing and reassuring, like he was talking her down from a ledge.

She wasn't going to be talked down like she was in the wrong when she wasn't, so she kept her bow raised in front of her.

As she looked between the two men, one staring at her with nothing but heated distrust and the other open curiosity and a bit of suspicion, Amity went to answer but a loud cry cut her off. Blue eyes turned to see a blonde woman hunched over a blonde girl's body and immediately, her arms gave way under the weight of her bow, leaving it to hang at her side.

The fire went out of her in that moment as the woman's cries of a name reached her ears and her heart clenched in her chest.

The man with a crossbow slung over his back watched her with narrowed eyes, observing how she went from ready to fight to a seemingly timid woman in two seconds flat. It was unusual and it was something that he had to think over.

"Now's not the time- y'all've got to handle your losses. I've got to get on my way." Amity said, her voice quieter than before as she looked at the scene in front of her.

"You can't go out there alone in the middle of the night. You've seen what can happen." Another voice chimed in from the sidelines and Amity turned to see an older man with a rifle walking over to them after apparently listening to their exchange. Amity deflated a bit under his gaze, his eyes holding a bit of wisdom and sureness that reminded her of her father.

"I-" She went to speak, but the older man cut her off.

"I'm Dale, and this is Shane and Daryl." He said, pointing to the man she saved then the crossbow guy respectively.

"Amity." She replied after a moment's hesitation and the man offered her a pained smile.

"We can do the rest of the introductions in the morning. Tonight..." He trailed off and Amity nodded, offering a smile that told him she understood what he meant before he moved along.

"We appreciate your help during that. _I_ appreciate your help." Shane said, regaining Amity's attention as she had been counting the fallen bodies around them then.

"It's no problem. I didn't even know I was going to help until I was, so..." She trailed off, the awkwardness of meeting new people in such a heavily emotional time having her reaching for all of her people skills that seemed to have fallen away over her time alone.

"I'll help with the bodies- the undead dead ones. Y'all need to count your blessings... and your numbers." Amity said finally, uncomfortable under the piercing gazes of both men who were staring at her as if waiting for her to do something to reveal her inner most thoughts and intentions.

 _'Good luck',_ she thought with an internal eye roll. _'That kind of shit was my job.'_


	3. Chapter 3

That night Amity didn't sleep- no one in the camp did.

They were too shaken up and she was too busy helping haul the undead corpses away to be burnt. It wasn't a glamorous job by any means, but it had to be done and she tried her best to ignore the curious looks she was getting from those around her.

She was an outsider, a newcomer with no name and that was dangerous. She knew that and they knew that so the suspicious glares were the least of her concern.

Her arms, though she had gained a fair amount of muscle over the last couple of months, were shaking from exhaustion as she drug yet another rotting corpse over to the burn pile, small grunts of exertion leaving her as she struggled to keep ahold of the thing as she moved. Its flesh threatening to slide off of its bones as she tugged.

Suddenly, a majority of the weight lifted and she looked up to see a large african-american man gripping the legs of the corpse while she had hooked her hands under its armpits.

A beat of silence passed between them, him looking at her with open interest while she fixed him with a look that made her seem a bit lifeless behind her dark blue eyes.

"I'm T-dog." The man introduced himself as if there wasn't a body hanging in between them.

"Amity." She replied, returning his small smile with a pressed one of her own before she began to step backwards, allowing him to help her out with the body instead of snapping at him and sending him on his way.

He was a kind soul- she could see it behind his eyes and that was a comfort to her as much as it was a concern.

Kind souls were made for the old world- not the hell that they had descended into.

As the pair wandered back into the center of camp, their footsteps paused simultaneously at the sight of the mourning blonde woman pointing a gun at one of the men in camp- the one who seemed to be the father of the young boy and the husband of the brunette woman, though that was not what Amity would have originally assumed.

While T-dog continued to drag bodies, Amity moved to join the small group that had formed around the fire pit. She was a curious woman by nature, but knowing what was going down was more of a survival tactic now than anything else.

"Y'all can't be serious." Daryl said as Amity approached, his eyes flickering to her for a moment as she joined the group. She couldn't help but take notice of their color- as blue as the Georgia sky up above them.

Pretty eyes for a seemingly rough man.

"Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb." He hissed and Amity found herself pursing her lips a bit at his words. She knew what he said was true, but she knew there were better ways to say it.

"She's mourning." Amity stated suddenly, unintentionally bringing all eyes in the circle on to herself as Daryl scoffed.

"I'm sorry, m'am. I don't believe I caught your name... or how you ended up here." The man who had been threatened by the blonde woman in question said, stepping forward a bit.

Amity openly stared at him for a long moment, taking in his grimy appearence along with his kind eyes and worry lines that crinkled at the edges of his eyes. She was trying to get a read on him and all that she came up with was compassion- that and noting that the man seemed to have a way with words.

"I'm Amity." She offered finally and the man gave her a small nod.

"I'm Rick- this here is my wife, Lori, and that's Carol." Rick said, pointing to the brunette woman first and then the woman sitting down who had short cropped hair. She looked exhausted and Amity couldn't help but offer her a tight but sincere smile.

"How you found us though..." Rick continued, trailing off a bit at the end.

"I was on a road nearby and I heard the undead stumbling about. I was about to move to take them down, but then I saw the numbers. I laid low until they passed on... but that's when I heard the screaming." Amity explained, holding his gaze for only a moment longer before dropping it to her feet.

"So ya just ran through the woods at nigh' to help a buncha strangers? Girl, ya gotta death wish?" Daryl asked, obviously not impressed by her acts in the slightest.

"I didn't think about it! I just acted and it's a good thing I did!" Amity all but spat back, on the defensive immediately with the man. She didn't know why but he just ate at her nerves. It was like he could read her as plain as day and knew exactly what buttons to push.

"We didn't need yer-" Darly began but was cut off by Rick.

"What do you suggest?" He asked the angry man, shooting a pointed look towards the direction of the blonde woman and the dead girl.

"Take the shot." Daryl replied immediately and Amity couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." He continued.

"That ain't a turkey, that's a young girl who obviously has someone who cared about her a lot." Amity interjected, now catching the full intensity of the crossbow-wielding man's anger.

"No- for God's sake, let her be." Lori spoke up, stopping Daryl's impending rampage in its tracks as the woman sat down heavily.

Daryl looked between them for a moment, taking note of Shane and Rick exchanging glances before meeting Amity's eyes. The redhead lifted her chin a bit as she looked at him, not breaking his gaze until he turned away with an angry scoff and went off towards the man who had the bat.

Amity watched him leave, curious as the group around the fire was still silent for a moment longer. With a soft sigh she was on the move again, heading towards one of the undead. She didn't feel right about grabbing anyone who was obviously part of the group because she hadn't known them- to her they were nothing more than another dead body.

After witnessing the small outburst of one of the members, a young Asian man, she knew she was doing right by keeping to the _geeks_ as he called them.

They meant something to these people. They deserved to be handled by those that knew them.

Though Daryl didn't seem to share the same sentiment as he snapped in return, words that meant nothing to Amity but had her looking at the group around her with cautious eyes.

 _They left someone for dead?_ Daryl's brother for that matter.

As she glanced around her, she caught the eyes of Shane who held a hand out her way as if telling her to pause for a moment.

"It's not how it sounds." Shane said, crossing towards her then, carrying with him an air of leadership that she had witnessed during the attack the night before.

"How can that be any other way?" She wondered, resisting the urge to cross her arms over her chest as her gloves were covered in undead remnants.

"His brother was an asshole- a danger to the group and himself." Shane explained, but Amity wasn't exactly convinced.

"And that meant he had to _die_?" She asked, voice a bit snappier than she felt was probably best for the situation, but again, so long without people around had left her people skills something to be desired.

"He's not dead- well, at least we don't know that he's dead. That's where Rick and them were last night. They were going back to get him because he got left behind in Atlanta. It's a long story, but you don't know him-"

"I don't know _you_ either." Amity cut across his words then and Shane tilted his head forward a bit as if to say 'fair enough.'

"This group is safe, Amity. Full of good people- you got to have an open mind about-" Shane tried to talk the redhead down, but his words were cut off by one of the women yelling.

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!"

Amity rushed towards the woman who had yelled out- the one that she had first saved the night before. Amity knew her name was Jacqui as she had thanked her for helping her a few hours earlier.

Watching as the group circled the injured man like a pack of wolves, the redhead found herself shifting her weight from one foot to the other, balancing on the balls of her feet with her loaned machete resting in her hands now. The looks in the eyes of the people had her on edge and Daryl didn't help as he demanded the man show them his wound.

Amity, for one, was not surprised in the slightest when Jim picked up a shovel from the ground and held it out in defense. She couldn't say that she wouldn't do the same if she was being backed into a corner like he was.

It was only when T-dog grabbed him that Amity saw the fight go out of the injured man's eyes while Daryl darted forward to reveal the angry looking bite on his stomach.

"I'm okay." Jim began to mutter, now released from T-dog's grasp. "I'm okay." He repeated and Amity found herself stepping forward as everyone else moved back.

"Girl-" A gravely voice growled from beside her and she felt a breeze of air against the crook of her arm as she kept moving forward and Daryl's grab for her barely missing.

"It's okay." Amity said gently to the injured man, nodding her head in confirmation of his repeated words.

She had taken an oath a long time ago that she would do everything in her power to assist those in distress, especially emotional and psychological distress. The end of that world had changed a lot of things about her- but it wasn't going to change that.

Jim eyed her warily, she could sense the tension in his body, but as her hand rested against his upper arm the man seemed to relax a bit under her gentle touch.

Amity finally convinced Jim to move, her eyes daring the rest of those watching to try to stop them as she lead him over to the RV to sit in the shade.

As the group circled up once more a few feet away, Amity handed the man a bottle of water and argued with herself over whether she needed to stay with him or should join the group in discussing what was surely his fate.

Before long, her mind was made up for her as she followed Jim's worried looking gaze and found Daryl looking over at him as well.

"Ya go looking for aspirin, do what ya need to do." She heard him begin, causing her to push off from the ground to stand as she recognized something dangerous in his voice.

"Someone needs to have the balls to take care of this damn problem!" He yelled as he stalked towards Jim, raising the pickaxe back over his shoulder.

Without hesitation, Amity stepped in front of the sick man with an arm raised in front of her head in self-defense, not even bothering with her weapon.

She didn't want to attack Daryl, she just wanted to protect Jim.

Finding and holding the heated glare of the Georgia blues, she saw the hesitation in them just as he stopped himself from swinging the pickaxe any further.

A half a second later, a cocked gun was pointed at his head.

"We don't kill the living." Rick stated, loud and clear as Shane moved between Amity and Daryl.

"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl hissed back.

There was a point to be had in that statement.

What Daryl did was wrong, but Rick threatening those to get his way was wrong as well.

Where was the line to be drawn? What made who right and who decided what was okay? The moral ambiguity of the world now was going to take a harder toll on people's humanity than any amount of walker killing- that Amity was sure of.

"We may disagree on some things, but not this." Shane spoke up then, confusing Amity a bit then as she wasn't sure what they had been disagreeing on.

"You put it down. Go on." He insisted, and it was then that the redhead realized while Rick had the ear of his family and Shane- the group looked at Shane as the leader.

Rick seemed to have a moral compass of a man of the law, a way with words that no one could deny, but in that moment he didn't have the group's trust like Shane did. It seemed like the man had been running the show for longer, and Amity wondered how that was since it seemed like Rick and Shane were long time friends.

She really needed to get caught up on what was going on in this group- that is, if she decided to even stick around.

Daryl had finally dropped the weapon and stalked away, not before fixing Amity under a harsh look.

"Ya damn sure got a death wish." He stated, leaving the woman looking at his retreating form before considering his words.

Stepping aside, Amity let Shane and Rick lead Jim away- now trusting them to keep him safe as they had both deemed the man still worthy of life- something that the redhead was uncomfortable with others having to decide.

She stood alone by the RV then, watching the group mill about as she thought over Daryl's words.

Did she have a death wish?

No- she didn't think she did. She was a bit reckless though, that was obvious enough in the way she jumped into situations head first, but she was lead by her heart and by her morals. That was something that she thought was more important than living a day longer.

If she didn't have her morals then she was just like one of the undead.

Her attention was again drawn to the so often angry Southern man now that she had sorted through her thoughts about herself.

She wondered if he was always that angry and stand-offish or if it had come with whatever the group had done to his brother? She knew that she would have been the same way, if not worse, if people she thought she could trust abandoned Michael.

Leaning against the RV, she watched as Carol approached him and took the pickaxe from his hands. She didn't seem comfortable with the weapon but she brought it down into the skull of the nearly devoured man on the ground in front of her with a sob. Amity had to assume that had been her husband- most likely the father of the little blonde girl she had seen clinging to Carol's waist.

The pickaxe was brought down again- then again- and Amity's eyes sought out Daryl's to find that they had already been waiting for her's. He sent her a small shake of his head which had the redhead nodding in response, their silent conversation letting her know that there was more to the story then what it seemed.

Wasn't that always the case?

As her eyes were still on the perplexing man, Amity nearly jumped out of her skin at the familiar sound of a walker. She raised her weapon reflexively, but let it drop to her side when she noticed it was the girl that they had been arguing over earlier.

"Amy." She heard the blonde woman say and Amity dropped her eyes from the scene, closing them once a gunshot rang out and silence fell over the camp.

* * *

Once the bodies had been loaded up into the older blue truck, Amity hopped on the tailgate of it and ignored the glare that Daryl sent her way as he climbed into the driver's seat. She didn't want anything to happen and for one of the bodies to hit the ground- that wouldn't make the situation any easier.

As they stopped at the top of the hill, she hopped down from the tailgate and waited for instructions on how they were going to do this as Daryl moved towards Shane and Rick who were already at the grave sites since they were finishing up the digging.

"I still think it's a mistake- not burning these bodies." Daryl told the two men and Amity nearly sighed.

Did he have an issue with _everything_ that the group did? She understood being opinionated, but this was bordering just trying to be difficult for the hell of it.

"It's what we said we'd do, righ'? Burn 'em all, wasn't that the idea?"

"At first." Shane replied, and Amity caught his tired look sent their way as she had come up behind the irritated archer.

"The Chinaman gets all emotional and says it's not the thing to do and we just follow him along? These people need to know who the hell's in charge here." Daryl snapped as Amity crossed her arms over her chest. "What the rules are." He added.

 _Was that what being in a group was about? A power play for who decides what?_

"There are no rules." Rick replied.

"Well, that's a problem." Lori's voice chimed in from near the truck causing Amity to look over her shoulder at her, the rest of the group joining them now.

"We haven't had one minute to hold onto anything of our old selves. We need time to mourn and we need to bury our dead. It's what people do." The woman stated and Amity found herself nodding along.

"Without morals or guidelines... we're no better than the undead." Amity said quietly, drawing the group's attention though the gaze she felt burning through her skin came from the man just next to her.

With that settled, the group moved to place each of the bodies in one of the graves before settling around the edges of the plot. They all watched in silence as the blonde woman, Andrea, as Amity had learned from Dale, stumbled forward with the body of her sister in her arms.

"I can do it." She said, dismissing the help that Dale tried to offer as she unsteadily got inside of the hole to lower Amy down in to. "I can do it!" She snapped, but Dale still hovered, his concern for the woman showing in full force.

Amity took a deep breath then, trying to steady herself as she watched the pain of those around her. Their emotions hit her like a bus and she had to throw up metaphorical walls to keep herself strong.

 _Maybe being alone was better than this._

Returning to the camp, Amity hunted down where Shane and Rick had stashed away Jim and figured the only place that they could have was inside the RV. Upon entering, she saw him resting on one of the benches with Carol at his side, gently wiping off his face.

"Hey there." Jim greeted weakly and Amity offered him the best comforting smile that she could muster.

"Hey, Jim." She greeted in return, knowing that the two of them had gained a connection rather quickly due to her actions with the group and his emotional state. She cared about him without really knowing him and that seemed to mean something to him even as it worried her.

As she settled next to him, crouching down in the aisle of the camper, the door opened once more and the trio looked to see both Rick and Lori climb into the vehicle.

"His fever is worse." Carol informed them, and Amity had to stop herself from sighing.

After seeing what he needed, Lori and Carol left to get the water he had asked for, leaving Amity to wonder if she should leave as well as it was clear that Rick wanted to speak with Jim.

"Stay," came the labored voice from beside her and she met the sick man's eyes, nodding her head as she pressed her lips together to hold everything in that she was feeling right then.

"You save a grave for me?" Jim asked Rick who had now settled down across from them though Amity couldn't see him as she kept her eyes on Jim, taking up Carol's former actions and gently patting down his forehead.

"Nobody wants that." Rick replied and she nodded in agreement.

"It's not about what you want." Jim countered weakly. "That- that sound you hear. That's God laughing while you make plans."

His words hit Amity like a bag of bricks, her motions stilling as she struggled to remain blank under his tired gaze that turned to her then- looking at her with concern that nearly made the woman laugh. He had no reason to be concerned about anyone other than himself in that moment.

Forcing herself to move past what he had said, she continued to gently pat his face dry.

"What I want, Jim. If God allows- is to get you some help." Rick said, breaking the moment.

In response, a coughing fit wracked through the sick man and immediately Amity took the cooking pot that Rick was offering out to her. She steadied the pot as he coughed over it, one of her hands moving to gently rub down his back, ignoring the sheer amount of sweat that coated his skin.

The sight of his pain- and of him spitting out blood- had her feeling a bit faint, but she revealed nothing as he finally sat back with a small groan.

"Watch the mangroves." Jim insisted suddenly and Amity's eyes fell closed for a moment as she took a steadying breath.

 _Delirium._

"Their roots will gouge the whole boat. You know that right?" Jim asked Rick who looked at Amity as if asking for a bit of direction, but she had nothing to offer. Sometimes when it came to this, you just had to ride the train of thought out with them.

"Amy is there swimming. You'll watch the boat, right? You said you would." The man continued and Rick shifted, looking distraught.

"I'll watch the boat. Don't worry." Rick promised and for that Amity was thankful as it seemed to soothe Jim.

"Okay."

At that, Amity left the RV with Rick in a hurry. She wanted to stay and continue to help Jim, but she didn't think that she could in that moment. Not with her hands shaking like they were.

Following behind the man, she nearly ran into his broad back as he stopped in his tracks just before stepping out of the vehicle.

As she followed, Amity felt the tension around the trio consisting of Shane, Lori, and now Rick as they all looked at one another.

"Just talking about my need for a plan, man." Shane spoke up and a scoff left Amity's lips.

"I can relate." She said in explaination for the sound as Shane looked at her curiously.

"So what is it? Are we leaving or not? Maybe y'all just want to stay here." Shane said then, looking to Rick once more. "We could hang some more tin cans."

"We can't stay here. We both know that." Rick replied and at _that_ , Amity went to find her things.

One way or another, she was leaving. Whether that was with this group or not- she hadn't decided.

As she crouched at the tree under which she had dumped her things, Amity felt a presence behind her.

"Can I help you?" She called out, voice not unkind though she didn't bother to glance around.

"What's your name?" A voice that was higher pitched than she was expecting asked, causing her to stand and turn. Amity was met with the sight of Rick's son and Carol's daughter looking at her curiously.

"I'm Amity." She replied immediately, offering the pair a smile.

"Oh, well I'm Carl and this is Sophia." The boy replied and Amity nodded in response.

"Where are you from?" He asked, surprising the redhead a bit with his forwardness.

"Canton- just a little ways outside of Atlanta." Amity told him and he nodded though she wasn't sure he actually knew where she was referring to.

"Hey, Carl, Sophia- could y'all do me a favor?" She asked suddenly and both children hesitated a moment before nodding.

"Awesome- so I'm still a bit in the dark around here. Could you help me with names?" She wondered and immediately the children seemed more on board with helping her out.

"I know T-dog, Daryl, Jim, both your moms, your dad, Shane, Andrea, Jacqui, and Dale." She listed off, watching as the two turned to look at the group as if trying to determine who she hadn't named.

"That's Glenn." Sophia said finally, pointing at the Asian man that Daryl had clashed heads with before. "He's funny." She added, smiling a bit.

"And that's Morales, Miranda, Eliza, and Louis." Carl added, pointing to the hispanic family. "I think that's it." He told her with a confirming nod.

"Y'all rock." Amity told them both, watching as they grinned brightly.

"Thanks for your help. We should go join everyone else now, okay?" She suggested, noticing that Lori was eyeing them closely as they talked.

Once everyone had settled down around the fire pit, Amity sat on a fold out chair in front of Glenn and since she had done so, the two had been chatting casually about everything and anything.

She already found herself fond of the younger man- enjoying his sense of humor though he was a little shy about talking to her at first.

"I've been- I've been thinking about Rick's plan." Shane's voice sounded, causing Amity to look over as he approached the group.

Amity didn't know what to think of Shane's defense of Rick's plan to go to the CDC- a plan that she had only just been caught up on by Glenn a few moments before- it was a purely emotional defense. Sure, she liked Rick well enough but she wasn't positive that she was willing to trust his whims enough to head into Atlanta.

She felt his gaze before she saw it and looked up to meet Georgia blues that seemed to be watching her closely as if sensing her dilemma. Without a word, Amity rose from her chair and went to find a place to hunker down that night.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning came quicker than Amity would have liked as she found herself being gently shaken awake by Carol. She felt like she had just closed her eyes only moments before being woken up.

Sitting up, the woman stretched languidly and crawled out of the tent she had shared with Glenn that evening after the young man had seen her settling down under the tree with her things and insisted that sleeping outside alone wasn't safe.

She appreciated the thought well enough, but it ended with the two of them chatting far later into the night than they probably should have. She felt like she was at a sleepover in college again. It was nice, but now she was regretting it.

When everyone was packed and Amity had her backpack settled on her shoulders rather than stored away in a vehicle like the rest of everyone's things, she wandered over to the circle that the group was forming, her bow in her hands where it belonged once more.

"Everybody listen up. Those of you with CBs- we're gonna be on channel 40." Shane stated, taking the lead as usual. "Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal, or anything at all- you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan." He listed off. "Any questions?"

"We- we're not going." Morales said then, surprising Amity but it seemed that she wasn't the only one taken aback by his words.

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people." Miranda explained under the tense looks of everyone around them.

Amity stared at them with a bit of confliction, glancing at the children they had with them. They wouldn't be alone because they had each other- but they wouldn't have anyone to help look out for the little ones.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane argued, seemingly thinking along the same lines that she was.

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family." Morales stated in response.

"You sure?" Rick asked, seemingly concerned with their choice.

"We talked about it. We're sure."

It was then that Shane and Rick had a mini pow-wow and decided to hand over one of their guns and some ammo.

Good-byes soon followed and Amity hovered on the outskirts of the group. She watched the farewells and returned the nod that Morales sent her way but said and did nothing else.

As the family disappeared towards the other side of camp, there was a moment of silence before Amity stepped into the center of the group.

"I'm leaving too." She said, looking at Shane and Rick more than anyone else as she spoke, but she felt a familiar gaze burning into her.

"I've already overstayed my welcome." She began, but was cut off.

"You haven't." Shane stated, shaking his head. The group was restless and it was clear that no one was comfortable or happy with her decision.

"If you leave then you'll be all alone." Carol chimed in, her voice gentle and worried, but Amity couldn't bring herself to look at her.

"I think I do better on my own." The redhead stated simply and a scoff sounded from nearby, causing her to look over and finally meet the Georgia blues that had been searing a hole into the side of her head.

"It's a stupid plan and ya know it." Daryl stated, voice challenging as the two looked at one another.

"It's not stupid. I've got to-" Amity started, but he continued talking over her.

"Ya ain't gotta do nothin'! Yer trying to leave because yer too scared to head to Atlanta." He snapped. "Nothin' but a coward and it's making ya _stupid_."

The woman was quiet then but her anger was clear in the tension she held in her body, looking as if she would launch herself at the man at any second.

"I'm not afraid." Amity said finally, her voice hard.

"Prove it." Daryl countered, making the woman want to smack him upside his smug face with her bow.

"Fuck you, Dixon." She snapped back before storming towards his truck, the man hot on her heels, fearing what her intentions were with his vehicle.

The redhead yanked open the passenger side door of the truck, laying her bow across the seat before ripping off her backpack and throwing it on to the floorboard.

"I'm riding with your redneck ass then. I like to sing in the car- we'll have a _blast_." She all but snarled at the man, climbing into the vehicle and slamming the door after her, leaving the rest of the group in silence.

Daryl turned back to them then, a small smug smirk playing across his lips as they all stared which made it morph into a scowl in three seconds flat.

"Whatever." He muttered.

"Come on. Let's go! Let's move out." Shane called out then, breaking the tension and causing everyone to break out of their small daze and head towards their respective vehicles.

Daryl climbed into the driver's seat of his truck, only sparing the redhead riding shot gun a small glance as he turned the key and the truck roared to life.

About twenty minutes in to the drive, Amity was shifting in her seat and setting her feet up on the dashboard.

"Get yer fucking feet off the damn dash!" Daryl growled and Amity looked over at him with amusement.

"Like your truck could get any more grimy anyways." She said, causing the older man to narrow his eyes at her.

"Don't fucking matter- still's my truck." He countered and Amity let out a dramatic sigh, kicking her feet down onto the floorboards.

It wasn't long after that that the caravan was rolling to a stop.

Amity glanced over at her road trip companion before climbing out of the truck and heading over to the now smoking RV, her bow in her hands just like his crossbow was held in his. It seemed the both of them were a little on edge.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I said I needed the one from the cube van." Dale was saying as they approached.

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asked.

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape." Dale replied, shaking his head.

"I see something up ahead. A gas station if we're lucky." Shane interjected, causing most of the group to turn to where he was looking though Amity noted Daryl was scanning the area around them.

He was always on alert- it was a smart way to live, but the woman thought it had to be exhausting.

Jacqui came out of the RV just as Rick went to answer, looking distraught which had Amity stepping towards her.

"Y'all, Jim. I-It's bad." She stated and Amity's heart dropped. "I don't think he can take anymore." She added before turning to walk away.

Amity hesitated, unsure whether or not to follow. She thought she should because he may have needed comfort, but for self-preservation, her feet seemed glued to the asphalt under them.

"Hey, Rick, you want to hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back." Shane spoke up then.

"Yeah, I'll come along too and back you up." T-dog offered, gaining a nod from Shane in response and then they both were off, climbing into Shane's jeep and heading on their way up the road.

Rick moved as well then, catching Amity's eye and nodding at her to follow him. She was confused for a moment until she realized where he was going and stopped in her tracks just outside the RV's door, not even looking at Daryl who stood just to the side of her then.

"Come on- he'll talk more with you." Rick insisted.

Amity shifted uncomfortably, but she steeled her nerves under the co-leader's gaze and followed the former cop into the Winnebago.

"We'll be back on the road soon." Rick said as they entered the room that Jim was settled in to, Amity immediately going to the sick man's side.

"Oh no. Christ." Jim said, sounding exhausted as Amity gently ghosted her fingertips over the back of his hand.

"My bones are like glass. Every little bump- God, this ride is killing me." Jim stated, causing Amity to withdraw her touch out of fear of hurting him even more.

"Leave me here." He requested and Amity couldn't help but shake her head.

"No, Jim- we're heading to get you help." She said, but he dismissed her words.

"I'm done, Amity." He said firmly, sounding more right in his mind than he had in a while. "Just leave me. I want to be with my family."

"They're all dead. I-I don't think you know what you're asking. The fever- you've been delirious more often than not." Rick stated, looking at the man with sad eyes.

"I know. Don't you think I know?" Jim replied, shifting and letting out a sound of pain. "I'm clear now. In five minutes I may not be. Rick, I know what I'm asking. I want this. Leave me here. Now that's on me. Okay? My decision. Not your failure."

Looking over at the brunet man now, Amity could see the confliction that laid behind his gaze. He didn't want to leave Jim- it didn't sit right with him, but the way Amity saw it- it was no one's choice but Jim's.

Rick moved then, heading out of the RV to discuss everything with the rest of the group but Amity didn't follow. She stayed put where she was and gently held Jim's hand when it reached out for her's.

"Did you have any children?" The man asked suddenly and Amity shook her head.

"I had a succulent plant." She replied, a tight smile following her words as Jim let out a small laugh- the action obviously paining him.

"You miss it?" He wondered.

"The plant? Every day." Amity confirmed and he shook his head, a smile on his lips.

"Not the plant- the old world. Your old life." He clarified.

Amity considered his question, not being the one to give a dying man a lie or rushed answer to a question he had decided to waste breath on.

"Sometimes- but sometimes I think that my old life wasn't one I was living very well." She replied after a moment and he nodded, looking at her closely then.

Amity had been a workaholic. She wanted to be more than a backwoods farm girl and that led to her pushing herself in all aspects of her life. She flew through college, acing her classes but not making many friends. She iced out her father and brother as she started on her doctorate, claiming that she never had the time to go home. She erased every bit of her former self from her life, even forcing away her heavy accent the best that she could to hide who she was. It wasn't right- and it ended up with her having a nice house, nice car, great job, but only a plant to share it all with.

Being in such close quarters with people lately had her reevaluating what she had done with her life up until that point.

"You've done right by me." Jim told her and she couldn't help but smile, her eyes watering a bit then.

"You've done right by me too, Jim."

The sound of the RV door opening had both of them looking towards it, Amity meeting Rick's eyes as it was him and Shane that climbed in.

"We're gonna respect your wishes Jim." Rick confirmed and Amity let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

Amity followed along with the group as Shane and Rick carried Jim between them, resting him against a tree on the side of the road.

"Hey, another damn tree." Jim said, laughing at a joke that Amity didn't get.

"Hey, Jim I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this way." Shane said, and Amity could tell then that the man was feeling just as conflicted as Rick had about leaving Jim behind.

"No. It's good. The breeze feels nice." Jim replied, causing Amity's heart to clench a bit in her chest.

She stood to the side as everyone said their goodbye to the man, knowing that she had known him for the shortest period but she wanted to be near him for as long as she could.

She had never been good with goodbyes.

When Daryl was the only one left and didn't seem to be stepping forward or leaving until Amity did, the redhead woman crouched down beside the fading man.

"Thanks for being there." Jim said and Amity gave him a watery smile, a tear finally escaping to roll down her cheek.

"That's what friends are for." She told him, gaining a chuckle in response as he shakily reached a hand out to smudge away the tear with a dirty thumb.

"Get yourself another plant, Am." He suggested and it was her turn to laugh.

"I'll name it Jim Jr." She said and he nodded, smiling softly.

"Sounds good."

"You- you just relax, okay? Take a nap and- and when this is all over for me I'll see you." Amity told him, holding his gaze for a moment longer before she rose to her feet and had to turn away.

She stumbled down the grass back to the road, only glancing over to see Jim gesturing for Daryl to come over to him as the rough man was about to walk away.

It appeared that the RV was fixed as the rest of the group was all getting into their respective vehicles, so Amity headed straight for Daryl's truck, ignoring Glenn who watched her as she walked by as if he wanted to say something.

It was only a few minutes after she shut her door and settled against the seat that the driver's door was opening and Daryl was climbing in next to her.

The man gave her a long look, seemingly deep in thought about something, but Amity couldn't be arsed to ask him what was on his mind. Her chest was aching too much.

She let her head fall back against the seat then as she took a deep breath before turning to look at him, her dark blue eyes meeting his.

"Let's get going, shall we?" She suggested.

The man said nothing and instead started the truck in response.


	5. Chapter 5

The truck rolled to stop along the curb just behind the van. At the sound of the engine finally being cut off, Amity seemed to come out of the small stupor that she had been in for the entirety of the ride after leaving Jim behind.

She looked over to Daryl who was watching her with something behind his gaze that she couldn't place.

Concern? _Maybe_.

She didn't need his concern.

Snatching up her bow and the machete that Rick insisted she kept on her, Amity climbed out of the truck without hesitation and made her way over to where the group was already standing.

She looked over the large expanse of gore ahead of them, noting that there didn't seem to be a sign of life anywhere. It looked like a wasteland to her.

Glancing over at the sound of footsteps pausing beside of her, she looked to see Glenn staring at the place, his face saying the same thing she was thinking.

"It's worth a shot." The young man muttered, looking over to meet Amity's gaze.

The redhead considered his words for a second before nodding.

 _It was worth a shot._

"All right, everybody. Keep moving." Shane said, leading the group into the minefield of dead bodies.

Amity floated on the outside edges, knowing that she was going to do everything to protect this group even if she had tried to leave. She wasn't helpless- not after two months in this hell alone.

"Stick close." A voice growled at her side before Daryl moved past her, leaving her to furrow her brows as she watched him.

There was no harm in someone having your back though she decided and picked up her pace to stay near his side, her bow trained at the world around them as blue eyes watched the corpses for any sign of movement.

Frantic whispers escaped the group as they pressed forward, Shane and Rick keeping them together as the mothers held their children close and the rest just tried to cover their asses.

Finally, they reached the doors that were covered by thick metal sheets that had been pulled down over them.

It look abandoned.

The damned place looked abandoned.

"Nothing?" Rick said and Shane pounded on the metal, making the sound echo across the empty courtyard.

"There's nobody there." T-Dog said, sounding defeated.

"Then why are the shutters down?" Rick asked, causing Amity to look at the building with new eyes. It was fortified- locked down from the inside.

 _Was someone holing away in there?_

"Walkers!" Daryl yelled and Amity looked at him, following his eyes as he stepped forward and in front of her to shoot the undead between the eyes.

The group began to panic, everyone that was already on edge being sent into a frenzy by the threat around them.

"You sent us into a graveyard!" Daryl yelled, stalking towards Rick with anger flaring in his eyes.

"He made a call!" Shane defended his friend.

"It was the wrong damn call!" The archer responded, making another move towards Rick but returning to Amity's side when Shane cut him off, shoving him back a few steps.

"Just shut up! You hear? Shut up!"

"Fuck." Amity muttered, her anxiety showing as she cursed, causing Daryl to glance over at her.

She looked at the landscape around them before her eyes shot worriedly to Carl and Sophia that were being held close to their mothers' side- sobs escaping them as the fear and panic rose.

"Rick, this is a dead end." Shane told his friend, trying to get his attention.

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol asked and Amity turned her attention to her, meeting her frightened eyes and suddenly realizing that they would have to keep going.

No stopping- there was never any stopping anymore.

"Do you hear me? No blame." Shane continued to lament at his best friend.

"She's right. We can't be here this close to the city after dark." Lori insisted, but Amity had lost interest in their argument as another walker rounded one of the barricades set up near them on her side.

"Shit." Amity said simply before moving forward towards the thing, debating between her machete or losing an arrow, but the decision was made up for her when a bolt skewered its head.

"What part of stick close did ya not understand?" Daryl asked, now standing beside of her.

"All of it." Amity replied with a tired smile, amused by the look he gave her but then he was off once more, circling the group like an overprotective wolf to cover them.

"Alright, everyone back to the cars!" Shane called out, apparently making a final call on the place, and everyone started moving back the way they came apart from Rick and Amity.

The redheaded woman was focused on the cityscape in the distance, the thought of keeping on moving taking a toll on her when she wanted nothing more than to sit down right then and there and let whatever happened, happen. A touch on her shoulder had her coming out of her head, her head turning to meet a pair of Georgia blues as she wondered why he was always right there.

The archer had hesitated only briefly after catching the look behind Amity's eyes- the small spark of hopelessness that threw him until the urgency of the situation pressed in on them once more.

"Gotta go now, girl!" Daryl snapped at her, trying to get her moving.

"The camera- it moved." Rick said suddenly and the group stopped, all eyes on the former sheriff.

"You imagined it." Dale told him, wanting to keep the group moving to safety.

"It moved." Rick insisted. "It moved!"

"Rick- it's dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down." Shane reasoned, tugging on his friend to convince him to leave it. "Now come on!"

"No stop!" Rick said, trying to shake off the other man.

"Man, listen to me. Look around this place! It's dead, okay? It's dead! You need to let it go Rick!" Shane told him, getting frustrated but Rick wasn't listening to him, instead he was still looking up at the camera.

"I know you're in there!" He yelled up at it. "I know you can hear me!"

"Everybody get back to the cars now!" Shane snapped, getting everyone moving once more and Amity felt a hand close around her wrist. She moved to jerk away from the touch but the grip didn't let up.

"Move it- we ain't dyin' out here tonight." Daryl told her, finally getting her feet moving on their own with his insistence but he didn't let go of her once they had.

Amity heard Rick still pleading behind them and went to turn, wanting to make sure that the group got the man who was obviously falling apart to safety as well. He was desperate- they all were and she knew that he didn't want to have led them astray. The pressure of the decision he had made was weighing on him and she didn't want to let that get him killed.

"You're killing us!" Rick shouted, still struggling against Shane's grasp. "You're killing us!"

There was another tug on her wrist when she had hesitated, but the pressure of it was soon forgotten as a bright light flooded the area.

The doors had opened.

 _Rick was right._

"Daryl, you cover the back." Shane directed after a moment of awe between them, the threatening groan of the walkers around them being enough to get the man back into his right mind.

Daryl moved to flank the group as directed, meaning Amity did the same. He had her back for some reason so she was going to return the favor.

"Hello?" Rick's voice echoed through the large space as they pushed through the doors and into what looked like a lobby area.

"Watch those doors. Watch for walkers." A man's voice responded, causing their eyes to dart around trying to locate whoever was speaking.

Finally, as a gun cocked, Amity spotted the man who had spoken standing at the top of the stairs, a machine gun in his hand. Usually such a sight wouldn't have been comforting, but it would have concerned her more to come across someone _without_ a weapon these days.

"Anybody infected?" The man asked.

"One of our group was." Rick replied, causing a involuntary noise of distress to leave Amity. All thoughts of Jim had been pushed aside to focus on survival, but now they were back full force.

"He didn't make it." Rick added, his voice sounding nearly apologetic.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man at the top of the stairs asked and Amity focused her attention on him fully now that the threat of the walkers was lessened.

 _Erratic_.

That was the word she would use to describe him though the majority of his actions said otherwise. It was lurking beneath the surface.

"A chance." Rick told him and Amity nearly snorted.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man said slowly.

"I know." Rick stated, a brief nod confirming that he hadn't spoken lightly.

"You all will submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission." The man said finally and a lot of the tension left the group.

 _He was going to let them stay._

"We can do that." Rick assured him.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." He said and with that, Shane was directing the group for the retrieval of their supplies. Amity brought her bow up, ready to head out the doors but was stopped by Daryl stepping into her sightline.

"I've got yer bag. Stay here and keep yer eyes on that guy. I don't trust 'im." He told her, keeping his voice low and Amity nodded, blue eyes darting back to the unknown man as she moved from the doors and further into the lobby.

Settling next to Carol and Sophia, Amity kept her eyes trained on the blonde guy, not even dropping her gaze once his found her own. Instead she tilted her head a bit, letting him know that she was weighing him up.

It only took a moment for the guys to come rushing back in and for the doors to be shut behind them. Amity took her bag from Daryl with a quiet thanks, getting a grunt in response as she hooked it over her shoulders.

"Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The man spoke into an intercom system and in response the metal doors began to close back over the glass ones.

That was it then. This was where they were going to be staying.

As it turned out, Dr. Edwin Jenner was a curious guy- his behaviors much like how Amity assumed her's were when she had first joined the group. It was obvious that social interaction either wasn't his thing, or he was out of practice, and the redhead was hoping so desperately for the first.

The group crowded into a crammed elevator and as it jolted to life, Amity sucked in a breath through her teeth.

"Don't like elevators?" Glenn asked from in front of her, apparently hearing her soft hiss.

"I thought that with the end of the world as we knew it I would never have to get in one of these death traps again, apparently I was _wrong_." Amity replied, hearing a snort from Daryl whose chest was nearly pressed up against her back as they were so tightly packed in the metal box of death.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl spoke up after a second of awkward silence, looking towards Jenner and eyeing the weapon he held.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." Jenner replied and Amity thought that that was fair enough. "But you look harmless enough." He added, looking between all of them.

They all knew that they looked anything but harmless after the quarry and their short time on the road.

"Except you." Jenner spoke again, looking at Carl. "I'll have to keep my eye on you."

That made a small smile flit across Amity's lips. She was thankful that, though a bit off, the man was at least friendly. Lord knew that they needed friendly.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked once they were off the elevator, much to Amity's relief, and walking down a hallway that reminded the redhead too much of the labs she worked in as a undergrad.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner replied.

"A little." Carol admittedly, her tone sheepish.

"Try not to think about it." The doctor suggested.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Jenner called out as they finally reached the end of the hall.

The lights came up at his words and Amity looked around the room. Okay, maybe this _wasn't_ like the labs in her old college.

The room was not only massive, but looked like the inside of the USS Enterprise.

"Welcome to Zone 5." Jenner told them all, moving further into the room as he did so.

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick wondered, voicing all of their questions as they looked around the hauntingly empty space.

"I'm it." The blonde man replied and suddenly Amity felt a bit short of breath. "It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them _welcome_." Jenner called out into open air.

 _"Hello, guests. Welcome."_ An automated voice sounded over the speaker system, sending a chill down Amity's spine.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Jenner told them all before turning to get everything set up to take a sample of their blood.

* * *

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Amity asked as Jenner took her blood, the rest of the group sitting nearby while Daryl hovered a few feet away, watching the pair.

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough." Jenner replied, smiling tightly as Amity met his eyes, trying to get a read on him as she nodded.

"Fair enough." She conceded though her scrutiny didn't let up.

Andrea was the last to go and only once Jenner had declared that he was all done did she move to get to her feet, stumbling as she did so, but thankfully Jacqui was there to steady her.

"Are you okay?" Jenner asked, looking at the blonde with concern.

"She hasn't eaten in days." Jacqui informed him, voice a bit short. "None of us have."

Jenner looked between them for a moment before smiling slightly.

"I can help with that."

* * *

Dinner- they were having _dinner_.

Amity wasn't sat in the middle of the woods roasting a rabbit over a tiny fire just to get something in her stomach nor was she grabbing a granola bar out of one of the cars so that she wouldn't pass out on everyone.

They were sat at a table with plates, silverware, and _wine_.

"Fine." Lori said to Dale, finally giving in as the older man offered her a glass of wine.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale told her, receiving an unamused look from the mother. "And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France he can have some then." Lori quipped back, causing a small laugh to escape Amity. The brunette woman looked over at her, returning her smile for a moment before Rick cut in.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on." He said, trying to convince his wife who looked at him like he had lost his marbles.

"Come _on_." He insisted, drawing out the last word a bit to make Lori laugh until she finally conceded.

"There you are, young lad." Dale said, pouring Carl a small glass of wine and passing it over to the boy. Amity leaned forward a bit, looking around T-Dog's broad shoulders to be able to see his reaction.

"Eww." Carl declared once he had taken a healthy sip, making a face at the taste and Amity had to agree.

She was always more of a liquor girl herself.

"That's my boy." Lori soothed, obviously pleased with his reaction as she poured his wine into her own glass. "That's my boy. Good boy."

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud." Shane told him and Amity reached for one of the sodas in the middle of the table herself, giving Shane a bright smile as he laughed at her actions.

"Soda pop for me too." Amity said, mocking Shane's term for the beverage before taking a sip.

She would have killed for a Cheerwine in that moment, but it seemed the North Carolina beverage didn't reach the CDC's fridge, so she settled.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl called out over the laughter, looking at the Korean boy who smiled nervously.

"What?" Glenn asked, smiling nervously.

"Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get." Daryl insisted and Amity rolled her eyes though she couldn't resist laughing at the obviously tipsy redneck.

So _that's_ what it sounded like when he was talking to someone rather than yelling.

The sound of metal against glass had everyone settling down a bit as they looked at Rick and Amity followed his eyes to the doctor sitting at the end of the table. He had been quiet amongst the chatter of their group and seeing that he had been alone all this time, Amity could understand why. It was hard to adjust to being back around people. Sometimes she still got lost amongst the noise.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." Rick said.

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog added enthusiastically.

"Hear hear!" Everyone called out, toasting one another.

"Here's to you, doc."

"Booyah!" Daryl added loudly, his own form of a toast.

"Booyah! Everyone echoed, making Amity laugh a bit too loudly as she was caught off guard by them all echoing the sentiment.

Turning as her laugh settled down, she caught the blue-eyed gaze that never seemed to be hard to find and offered him a smile- one that he surprisingly returned with a small smirk.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc?" Shane cut in suddenly, apparently not on board with the silly celebration. "All the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened- where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane. We don't need to do this now." Rick insisted, settling back down next to his family as he spoke.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right?" Shane asked him. "This was your move- supposed to find all the answers. Instead we found him. Found one man. _Why_?"

"I'd like to know that too, I might not have asked it right now..." Amity said pointedly, giving Shane a short look. "But I've sent research here. I _knew_ people here, but they're not here anymore... You are." She told the doctor.

"Research?" Carol asked from her seat, everyone looking at Amity with curiosity at her small revelation about herself.

She had kept her past, and most of her present self even, hidden from the group she was with. It wasn't on purpose and it wasn't because she didn't trust them, it just wasn't something that she thought mattered much anymore.

"My job- my old job. It's nothing interesting, nothing that would help here and now." Amity replied, waving off their questions and instead focusing on Jenner who was looking at her oddly.

"Well, when things got bad a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families." Jenner began hesitantly, obviously the subject matter was a touchy one with him and she could understand why. "And when things got worse- when the military cordon got overrun- the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked, not sounding convinced.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door." Jenner said, his words slow and deliberate. "They _opted_ _out_. There was a rash of suicides." He told them all and Amity's eyes found the table resting beneath her hands. She didn't want to think of what happened to those she knew in the place. "That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave." Andrea pointed out. "Why?"

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good." Jenner replied and Amity looked up at his words, catching the man's gaze and offering him a small understanding smile.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." Glenn stated, sounding tired as he looked at Shane.

 _At least they got some answers._

As dinner wrapped up, the doctor led them down into an office-like area to let them settle in.

"Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here." Jenner explained, guiding them through the building.

"There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy." He added, turning to look down at Sophia and Carl who were trailing along behind him.

"Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power." He insisted and they nodded quickly.

"The same applies to everyone else- if you shower, go easy on the hot water." He stated and Amity swore she ascended then and there.

"Hot water?" Glenn echoed, a smile breaking out across his face.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog replied, sharing in the grin.

"Thanks the Gods!" Amity declared, pushing past both of them to hunt down the mentioned showers. She knew she would have a hell of a time convincing herself to get out once she got in.

In her eagerness, she didn't consider the fact that she needed to pick a room or the fact that the showers could have been in the rooms. She had assumed they were going to be in locker room or something since this wasn't the living quarters for the building.

Soon enough, the redhead woman was left standing alone in the hall with every room claimed by one or more person.

"Shit." She muttered to herself.

"Ya know, ya really shouldn't cuss like that." A voice sounded from one of the doorways and Amity turned to give Daryl a withering look.

"You have no room to talk, Robin Hood." She said, causing him to snort.

"I ain't no Robin Hood and ya don't have room to talk about anyone shootin' arrows. Ya do the same." He told her and she shrugged, conceding a bit to his point.

"Ya ain't got a room?" He asked and she sighed, shaking her head.

"Slow and steady did not win the race in this case." Amity informed him. "I was going to ask Glenn if I could bunk with him." She explained further.

"Ya can stay with me... if ya want." Daryl said suddenly, causing the woman to raise a brow at him.

His offer was definitely unexpected and she wondered if it was the wine that was pushing him to be less grouchy and a bit more open.

"I was just offering so ya didn't have to stand out in the hall like an idiot anymore." He added and a scoff left her lips.

 _So much for being less grouchy._

"You are so _kind_ , Daryl Dixon." She drawled out, but moved towards the man nonetheless. "Thanks though. I appreciate it." She added and he grunted in return.

Entering the room, she saw his things dumped on a cot so she moved to take couch, setting her bag down beside it and her bow on top of it.

"You can shower first if ya want. I'm gonna go hunt down another bottle." Daryl told her, holding up the empty one she hadn't noticed in his hand causing her to roll her eyes at him.

"Have fun, don't get lost." She told him, voice light as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"I don't ever get lost, girl." He replied, moving out the door without another word.

Amity made quick work of digging sweat pants and a tank top out of her bag once she was alone, moving to the bathroom with an eagerness that she hadn't felt in a long time. It was ridiculous the things that you didn't treasure until they were gone.

The shower she took was heavenly and over too fast, but the woman forced herself out after she had washed and _shaved_ to leave Daryl some hot water.

After brushing her teeth at least twenty times, thankful to have toothpaste after hers had ran out a few weeks prior, she exited the bathroom while squeezing her hair dry with a towel.

"I thought ya melted in there." Daryl said from his spot laying back on his bed.

"Wow, a wicked witch reference? And I thought we were friends." Amity replied, feigning hurt.

"A what?" He asked, looking at her with obvious confusion.

"The Wicked Witch... of the West. You know, the Wizard of Oz?" She said, talking slow as if he was missing something obvious.

"Ain't never seen it." Daryl replied with a shrug, avoiding Amity's eyes.

"You've... how have you never seen the Wizard of Oz?" The woman asked, teasing him with her over-exaggerated exasperation.

"I just ain't seen it!" He snapped back, causing silence to fall between them for a tense moment.

"Man, if we ever have electricity again your redneck ass is going to watch the Wizard of Oz with me." Amity told him, not put off by his attitude even as he rolled his eyes at her.

"Good luck with that, girl." He scoffed, though his tone was less biting than it had been.

Again there was a moment of silence as Amity continued to dry her hair, sitting down on the couch as she did so.

"Are you worried?" She asked suddenly, blue eyes looking over to him as his brow furrowed in response to her question.

"What's there to be worried 'bout?" He questioned, taking a drink from the bottle of wine he must have found on his hunt.

"This place- the fact there's only Jenner left. The fact that nothing... if there was something that would fix this shit- he would have said so. He's just as fucked as we are." Amity said, rambling for a moment as her thoughts over everything poured out. If she didn't know any better she would have swore that she had had some wine as well.

"We ain't fucked." Daryl replied and Amity gave him a look at that.

"We ain't." He insisted. "If this place doesn't work out then we'll just keep doin' what we've been doin'."

"I don't think I _want_ to do what we've been doing, Daryl." Amity replied, tossing her towel towards the bathroom with a sigh.

"Don't no one give a rat's ass 'bout what ya _want_ , princess. It's what we all gotta do." He told her before pushing himself to his feet and heading towards the bathroom, leaving the wine bottle on the desk near the door.

"Go to sleep or somethin'. No point in freaking out about shit we don't know nothin' bout yet." He said before closing the bathroom door behind him.

Amity waited until she heard the water turn on before deciding to do as he suggested. She shifted around in her makeshift bed, settling back against the arm of the couch with a cushion under her head, her hand dangling off the side to hover near her machete.

It felt like she had lied there forever, but the woman fell asleep before Daryl even finished his shower.

Morning came fast and it came with Amity giggling at everyone who was hungover as she sipped on her crappy cup of coffee.

She had left Daryl still sprawled out on his cot that morning, but not without taking a moment to appreciate how different he looked when asleep. He was relaxed, and in that moment he was clean, which together resulted in him looking years younger. It was an odd fairly peaceful moment, but the woman soon rushed out of the room after feeling like an absolute creep for watching him like she had.

"Hello." Rick said as he entered the room that they were using as an eating area.

"Morning." Amity and Lori said back, the latter watching him as he approached.

"Are you hungover?" Carl asked his father. "Mom said you'd be."

Amity couldn't help but laugh lightly at that, even with the half-hearted glare Rick sent her way.

"Mom is right." Rick confirmed.

"Mom has that annoying habit." Lori replied, causing Amity to smile once more.

"Eggs, powdered, but but I do 'em good. I bet you can't tell." T-Dog declared to the room, coming over with a plate that had Amity's mouth watering.

"Protein helps the hangover." T-Dog told Glenn and Amity shook her head.

"Nothing helps the hangover, just like nothing helps you sober up faster." Amity told Glenn with an apologetic smile. "It's all white lies that people tell to make themselves feel better- mind over matter. Take a pain killer though, that's your only hope." She laughed then, shaking the pill bottle at him before tossing it his way.

"Don't ever ever ever let me drink again." Glenn requested as he took the bottle and Jacqui fussed over him.

"Hey." Rick greeted Shane as he entered the room and Amity offered him a small wave though she was currently focused on the fact that T-Dog was now scraping some eggs onto her plate.

"Thanks, T." She told the man, giving him a smile that he returned before moving on to clear off the rest of the pan.

"Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked his friend.

"Worse." Shane replied and Amity shook her head. This is why she didn't drink last night- that and she thought that wine tasted like death, but that morning she would pretend it was for superior reasons.

"The hell happened to you? Your neck?" T-Dog said suddenly and Amity paused in scarfing down her eggs to see T-Dog looking at Shane.

"I must have done it in my sleep." Shane deduced, sounding completely unsurprised about the marks.

"Never seen you do that before." Rick added to the conversation.

"Me neither." Shane said simply. "Not like me at all." Amity watched as he fixed his gaze on Lori, her eyes dropping from his as he did so.

The tension between them was clear to Amity though she was completely in the dark about what caused it. If _Lori_ had done that to Shane... then what had Shane done to Lori?

"Morning," another voice greeted from the door and Jenner walked in, Daryl trailing in as well not a moment after.

"Coffee's on the counter." Amity told Daryl, gesturing towards the pot and he grunted in response, heading that way.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing." Dale began as Amity stood, taking her plate over to the large sink and washing it off before setting it to the side.

"But you will anyway." Jenner replied, sounding tired.

Amity settled next to Daryl who was leaning against the counter, watching the interaction.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said shortly, and Amity glanced over to meet a pair of Georgia blues before she shrugged her shoulders lightly.

* * *

"Give me playback of TS-19." Jenner called out after the group had finished breakfast and followed them into the big room he had taken them into the night before.

" _Playback of TS-19._ " Vi replied and the large screen at the front began to load.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this." Jenner told them and an image appeared on the screen. _A brain._ "Very few."

Amity stepped towards the screen once the image had loaded, looking up at it with wide eyes as she took in the display.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.

"Yes." Amity replied before Jenner had a chance, her voice a bit breathless due to her excitement and awe.

Amity had _loved_ her job before the turn. So much, in fact, that it took precedent over almost everything else in her life.

"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end." Jenner said and Amity narrowed her eyes at him.

"It matters." She all but snapped and the doctor looked at her with narrowed eyes as well, curiosity clear in them.

"Take us in for E.I.V." He said to the room, not taking his eyes off of Amity.

 _"Enhanced internal view_." Vi replied.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked, everyone seemingly as mesmerized by the screen now as Amity was moments ago.

"A person's life experiences, memories. It's everything." Jenner replied. "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you- the thing that makes you unique. And human."

"Poetic." Amity said, eyes not leaving the screen. "What pathways are you looking at here? Only electrical impulses? Do you have another scan for the movement of neurotransmitters?" She asked. "I was thinking that following norepinephrine would be interesting with this disease."

The room fell silent after she spoke and she turned to see everyone staring at her with confusion and curiosity.

"Amity, right?" Jenner asked and she nodded, knowing what he was getting at.

"Doctor Amity Walker." She replied and heard a few sounds of confusion and indignation from the group.

"Not the useful kind of doctor- well, not in this world." Amity said, looking to Rick and Shane as she spoke- wanting them to know that she wasn't hiding any special skills that could have been of use.

"I was- _am_ a clinical neuropsychologist. I mainly did clinical work because I enjoyed the one-on-one interaction, but I did a lot of research on the side." She explained.

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl said then, breaking some of the awkwardness in the room though he was looking at Amity as if she grew a second head.

"Right- so those are synapses, electric impulses travel down the neuron and they release chemicals that signal to the next neuron in the brain and that carries messages. It's their form of communication." Amity explained, gesturing to the screen. "They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

Jenner nodded at that, seeming to have been completely thrown off for a moment by the discovery of her knowledge on the matter.

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick asked, stepping closer to both Jenner and Amity then who had converged in front of the screen.

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil." Jenner replied, sounding distracted.

"This person died? Who?" Andrea asked and Amity looked to Jenner, watching him as he spoke.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected- and volunteered to have us record the process." He explained and it was as he explained that Amity saw something in his expression. A flash of pain and hopelessness that had her taking a step back.

"Vi, scan forward to the first event." Jenner called out.

 _"Scanning to first event."_

While Amity watched the screen, the redhead realized that there was a presence hovering just behind her shoulder and she glanced over to see that Daryl had wandered closer, looking at her with something that she couldn't make out then- not with everything going through her head.

His Georgia blues glanced at Jenner with a pointed look and Amity pressed her lips together, now knowing what he was getting at.

Something was off.

"What is that?" Glenn asked, pulling Amity's attention away from the archer and back to the screen that had now changed.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs and then death." Jenner explained and Amity watched the individual brain waves on the edge of the screen, squinting to differentiate the alpha waves from the beta.

"You should have tracked norepinephrine." Amity told him, receiving a scoff from the man.

"We had other things to worry about." He retorted, his words a bit harsher than they had been since he decided to let them stay.

"Things other than figuring out how this disease works?" Amity retorted. "You know that it shuts a human down into their most basic behaviors- any behaviorist could see as much- but you don't think to try to follow the paths of the neurotransmitter that starts the stress response?" She asked, her patience short.

"You weren't there! We did what we could- I've done what I can!" He snapped, turning to her in anger, her words apparently having pushed some wrong buttons.

"Watch it." A gravelly voice behind her warned the man and Amity pushed a hand through her hair, turning her eyes back to the screen as Rick got between the pair.

The former sheriff had his hands out, his palms spread wide as he tried to keep the peace.

"You're right." She said finally, her words coming out as a sigh as she looked at the doctor. "I wasn't there."

With that, the tension seemed to diffuse as much as it would and Jenner turned back to the group.

"Everything you ever were or ever will be is gone." He said, voice soft again.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked and Amity felt blood rush to her head suddenly, her heart beat pounding in her ears.

"Yes." Carol's reply sounded like it was echoing in a large room to the redhead.

"Hey." A voice said beside her and Amity looked over to see Daryl looking at her with something close to concern. "Breathe." He instructed as Lori began to explain the situation about Andrea and Jim.

Amity sucked in a breath, suddenly remembering how to, and Daryl gave her a small nod that for some reason had her calming down.

"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister. Amity was close with Jim- he was the one that Rick told you we lost when we came in." Lori explained.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." Jenner replied, looking between the two women.

"Scan to the second event." He told the room.

 _"Scanning to second event."_

"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours." Jenner explained, looking over to Amity then as if expecting her thoughts on the matter and he was right to.

"Immune response differences?" She suggested and he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a possibility."

"Anything is." She added.

"In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds." He told them and again, Amity found herself sensing something different in his voice when he talked about TS-19 specifically.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked, sounding shocked as lights reappeared on the screen, showing the brain activity they had discussed before.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving." Jenner replied.

"But they're not alive?" Rick asked, seeking clarification.

"You tell me." Jenner insisted while Amity just shook her head.

"They're not alive." She said simply, her voice a bit harsher than she meant for it to be.

She knew that they weren't alive- not when they killed them to save themselves, but could they be kept alive?

If they were given something to fight the disease before the brain was shut down then it was possible. They would have to catch it quickly enough or there could be lasting brain damage, but they'd be alive and the brain can heal to a point. There was a chance- but she didn't know how they were going to reach it without the people in the world that could figure it out.

Amity could watch the screen and tell you how everything worked and why- but she had no medical training. She wasn't experienced in what it took to fight off bacteria, viruses, or whatever the hell else this disease could be.

Again, she was the useless kind of doctor in this world.

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark." Rick said, reasoning through it himself.

"Dark, lifeless, dead." Jenner listed off. "The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part- that doesn't come back. The _you_ part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

They watched the screen for a little bit longer until a dark line tore across the brain and Amity was so distracted by the fact that she couldn't observe the signals any more that she nearly forgot it was a person that she had been looking at until Carol's words of distress brought her out of it.

"God, what was that?" She asked.

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea asked, but Jenner ignored her, choosing to begin to walk out of the room

"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations." He requested.

 _"Powering down main screen and workstations."_

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea asked, beginning to sound distraught.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." Jenner offered up.

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui interjected.

"There is that." He conceded.

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere." Andrea insisted.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol asked, sounding worried and that made Amity want to move to her but she couldn't seem to find a way to get her legs working.

"There may be some. People like me." Jenner said, but he didn't sound convinced.

"But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick asked.

Amity nearly felt bad for Jenner- the man being expected to deliver all of the answers about things unknown to a group of desperate survivors who secretly wanted nothing more than some hope to hold on to when things got quiet.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner explained, sounding defeated.

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea continued, but no answer came.

"Jesus." Jacqui sighed.

"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again." Daryl said and Amity shook her head a bit at his words, at all of them. She could see the hope leaving the room- her's had flown out the window the second that they had left her friend on the side of the road to die because he requested them to, but she had a brain scan on the computer in front of her and she was going to find out whatever she could about this thing.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but, that clock... It's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale asked, breaking the silence in the room as everyone began to leave.

"The basement generators, they run out of fuel." Jenner answered, his hesitation making it clear enough to Amity that he was lying.

"And then?" Rick asked, but received no response as Jenner was walking out of the room.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

 _"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."_

Amity looked at the group around her at that, fearful for what it meant. It could mean a number of things- but the way Jenner lied didn't sit right with her. It couldn't mean anything nice.

"Rick, I think we need to get ready to leave." Amity said, everyone looking her way.

"I want to check the situation out first, weigh our options." Rick told her and the woman hesitated a moment before nodding.

"Okay, but time is of the essence." She told him, giving the countdown a pointed look.

At that, the group began to file out of the room save for Amity.

"Ya not coming?" Daryl asked, having had paused at the door when he noticed that she wasn't with the group up ahead.

"No- no, I wanted to see some things." She told him, meeting his eyes and ignoring the way he looked at her in that moment. It was an uncomfortable feeling, like you were being looked right through and all of your thoughts and secrets were laid out on the table in front of you.

She wondered if that's how people felt when she was trying to analyze them.

Finally, Daryl just nodded before turning to leave the room.

"Vi, give me a playback of TS-19." She asked the room, relieved when the system brought up the brain scan once more.

It was less than a half an hour before the lights in the room went off along with the screen, causing Amity to nearly scream with frustration as she rested her forehead against the notepad on which she had been scribbling her observations. Luckily, she had thought to print off a few print screens of the brain before, during, and after the disease.

She took a moment to gather herself before standing, noting Jenner looking down on her from an office above the work area. She met his eyes and held his gaze for a long moment before turning back to her notes, straining to see them in the dark.

Only when she heard the familiar voices of her group did she look up from her work, surprised to see Jenner donning a lab coat.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second." Jenner was saying as they entered. "That started as we approached the half-hour mark." He looked to the countdown then. "Right on schedule."

"Where have you been, Amity?" Rick asked, suddenly noticing the redhead and realizing that she hadn't been with the rest of the group.

"Here, trying to... I just wanted to see what I could figure out." She offered lamely as an explaination but the group seemed to accept it, some looking at her with concern.

"It was the French." Jenner said suddenly, cutting through the silence as he handed Daryl a bottle of alcohol that the man all but snatched from his hands.

"What?" Andrea asked.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know." Jenner explained, beginning the story that they had wanted to hear in the first place. "While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

Amity ripped out the pages she had wrote on as he spoke, folding them up along with the print outs of the brain scans and tucking them into her back pocket. She planned on putting them in the research notebook that she had taken from her office when she first left her hometown.

"What happened?" Jacqui asked, her eyes narrowing with concern.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid, ran out of juice. The world runs of fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" Jenner replied and Amity snorted.

He had a point.

"Let me tell you-" Shane began, stalking forward until he was stopped by Rick.

"To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here _now_!" Rick yelled and immediately they all started moving, heading towards the door that led back to where they had slept.

An alarm began to sound through the room causing everyone to pause and Amity to flinch from the sound, blue eyes wide as a bit of panic set in.

"What's that?" Rick yelled.

 _"30 minutes to decontamination."_

"Doc, what's going on here?" Daryl yelled, moving to Amity's side as she did to his. She swore it had become a defense mechanism ever since they arrived at the CDC.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go!" Shane yelled and that got the group going again. Amity was nearly at the door when a metal covering slammed down over it.

"What?" She whispered to herself, looking at the blocked doorway before whipping around to stare over at Jenner.

"Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn yelled, his voice edging on frantic.

"You son of a bitch." Daryl snarled, tearing away from the group faster than Amity could react.

"Shane!" Rick called and his friend responded, stopping the raging man in his tracks.

"You let us out of here!" Daryl yelled, fighting against the other man's grasp.

"No, stop." Amity said, her voice calm as she tugged on Daryl's elbow to pull him away from the doctor.

The angry man looked down at her, the heat still plain in his gaze, but she held his eyes until he turned away from her, nearly spitting as he stalked across the room.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now." Rick said, trying to keep calm and reason with the man.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner said simply.

"Well, open the damn things." Rick snapped.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that." He defended.

"You knew that we didn't know that's what you meant." Amity said, her voice bordering pleading with the man.

"It's better this way." Jenner told them all.

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick asked.

Amity found herself waiting along with them all for his answer, she had a hunch, but the confirmation was what she needed. She needed to _know_.

"What happens in 28 minutes?" Shane yelled, kicking the man's chair.

"Come on! You know what this place is?" Jenner asked, yelling in the two men's faces.

"We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" He screamed, punctuating each epidemic.

"In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack for example, H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." He said finally, voice calmer.

"H.I.T.s?" Rick asked.

"Vi, define." Jenner called out, letting the computer explain what he couldn't find the strength to.

 _"H.I.T.S- high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consists of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000° and 6,000° and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."_

As Vi spoke, Amity watched the realization seep into everyone's eyes around her. Rick's family clung to one another while Carol held her daughter tighter against her.

Amity found herself reaching out a hand to steady herself against one of the desks, her fingers clenching on the edge until her knuckles were white.

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner clarified. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret... everything."

The redhead sucked in a shaky breath, her slender hand coming to cover her eyes as she sought to regain control of herself.

Narrowed blue eyes watched her for a moment and then glass was shattering against the metal covering their way out. The bottle of wine Daryl had held had shattered due to his throw.

"Open the damn door!" He yelled.

"Out of my way!" Shane called out, running towards the door with an axe that he had dug up. The axe head rebounded off of metal door with a loud bang but didn't leave a mark.

Moments later Daryl was tossed an axe as well and both men pounded at the doors with their weapons- desperate for escape for not only themselves, but those in the room that they cared about.

Amity sunk to the floor alongside the two mothers and their children while they worked, her knees pulled to her chest as her fingers laid clasped together over her mouth. For the first few minutes, she was focusing on just breathing, but as time passed she felt reasonably more calm and at peace with the situation.

If it was the end of the line then maybe she should just accept it.

"You should've left well enough alone. It would've been so much easier." Jenner told them.

"Easier for who?" Lori asked, her voice harsh.

"All of you." Jenner replied. "You know what's out there- a short, brutal life and an agonizing death. Your sister what was her name?" He asked Andrea.

"Amy." She replied.

"Amy. And you, your friend- his name was Jim, right?" He asked, turning to Amity. "You know what this does. You've seen it." He said, trying to make them understand what he was doing and honestly, Amity did.

She could see the outlook that he was taking, but that didn't mean he had any right to force that onto them as well.

"Don't fill their heads with that bullshit!" Daryl yelled from the door, turning to look at the group with the axe still in hand, but Jenner ignored him.

Amity couldn't though- instead she met his Georgia blues and fought against the tears that threatened to well up. If she had to go then she wasn't going to spend her last moments crying.

"Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" Jenner asked Rick.

"I don't want this." The former sheriff replied, his voice nearly a snarl.

"Can't make a dent." Shane gasped, joining them now as he leaned against one of the desks.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner told him as if it was obvious.

"Well, yer head ain't!" Daryl yelled, coming out of no where with his axe swinging towards the doctor.

It only took a moment for Amity to be up on her feet and in front of the man, a hand on his chest pushing him back while T-Dog and Dale did the most about dragging him away.

"Whoa, Daryl!" She said, moving with him now as he stalked around the desks.

"Ya don't believe that shit he's saying, do ya?" He asked, spitting out the question.

"I... can see where he's coming from with it." Amity replied honestly, holding his gaze as he stepped into her space.

"It's a load of bullshit! It ain't worth just givin' up on everythin'! If it was then ya wouldn't have been sittin' in here lookin' at that damn brain." He insisted and Amity dropped her gaze.

He was right, she had a ridiculous drive to try to beat this thing, to keep fighting and surviving to prove that she could, but she was _tired_.

"You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." Jenner said from behind her, looking at Rick as he spoke.

It shocked Amity to hear that the seemingly optimistic man was saying things like that, but after really thinking about the way he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, maybe it wasn't that surprising after all.

"What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane asked him accusingly.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick said in response.

"There is no hope. There never was." Jenner insisted.

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere." Rick snapped at him, an attempt to rally the troops if Amity ever saw one.

"What part of "everything is gone" do you not understand?" Andrea asked him, her tone short as she sat down on the floor much like Amity had been.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it." Jenner told them all. "This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."

"This isn't right. You can't just keep us here." Carol told him, her voice heavy as she spoke through her tears.

"One tiny moment- a millisecond. No pain." Jenner tried to reason with her.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." She snapped back, cradling Sophia against her.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate, to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner asked them all.

Amity looked to Daryl at his reasoning, her eyes holding a question and he shook his head no. He still didn't buy the man's talk, and with that being made clear, Amity wasn't so sure she did either.

The cocking of a gun from behind them all had her turning, eyes widening as Shane stalked forward with one of their larger guns in his hands- his eyes set on Jenner.

"Shane, no!" Rick yelled, stepping in front of the man who just pushed on past him.

"Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way!" Shane yelled, completely gone off the wall by that point. "Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off." He threatened Jenner, pressing the barrel of the gun into the doctor's cheek.

"Do you hear me?! Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this! We will never get out of here." Rick said, trying to reason with him.

"Shane, you listen to him." Lori called out from where most of the group had retreated though Amity and Daryl still hung on the edges closer to the trio of men.

Shane let out a roar of anger before he began shooting- aiming for the computers first. Amity was pushed a step back by a calloused hand as the shot sounded through the room, Daryl moving in front of her as Shane continue shooting, only stopping once Rick had him on the ground.

"Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick asked him, pressing his friend against the floor.

"Yeah, I guess we all are." Shane snapped back, the fight going out of him though the contempt remained.

As Rick straightened up he cast his eyes about the room, taking in everyone looking at him. It was then that Amity thought he realized they were all looking to him for guidance in that moment- for _hope_.

"I think you're lying." Rick said suddenly, turning on Jenner.

"What?" The doctor replied, taken aback.

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Rick asked him.

"It doesn't matter." Jenner replied immediately, but Rick wasn't budging.

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?" The former sheriff asked again.

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise... to her, my wife." Jenner said vaguely, but something clicked in Amity's mind.

"Test subject 19." Amity interjected, the pieces falling into place.

Jenner nodded.

Movement from in front of her had Amity watching as Daryl stalked away, apparently fed up with the situation as he began to take the axe to the door once more. It wouldn't help- she knew that and she knew that he did too, but he wasn't the kind to just give up. No matter how hopeless the situation seemed.

Of all people, it seemed that Daryl Dixon had the most hope of them all.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me." Jenner explained, sounding broken as he spoke.

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's that's all we want a choice, a chance." Rick told him.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori requested, her voice shaking.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." Jenner said finally after taking a moment to look at those around him.

He crossed the room towards one of the desks, scanning in his card and pushing buttons that had the door in front of Daryl opening.

Come on! Let's go!" Daryl yelled as the group began to rush towards him, everyone making sure that everyone else was leaving.

Amity hesitated, looking at Jenner and Rick who were standing together before finding Andrea's eyes. The blonde woman looked at her with nothing but acceptance behind her gaze. Andrea was staying, she wanted to leave this world behind.

"Girl, get yer ass movin'." A voice growled next to her, a rough hand grasping her elbow to tug her along.

"Daryl-" She began, but the man was having none of it.

And for Amity, that was enough.

She wasn't against going, but it wasn't something she thought she would be able to make herself do.

The hand on her arm was enough.

The group rushed through the hall that they slept on, Daryl and Amity ducking into the room they shared to grab their weapons and packs and sling them on before running up to the doors in which they came in through.

"Get them doors open!" Shane yelled, but it was useless. The doors they had came through were sealed shut.

Daryl and Shane moved on to the windows, beating them with their axes as they had the door that was blocking them from leaving the work area. Amity moved to Carol and Sophia's side, placing a hand on top of the blonde girl's head and offering her a reassuring smile when she looked up at her.

"Daryl, look out!" T-Dog yelled, ramming a chair into the glass over and over again once the archer had moved but it barely made a scratch.

"Dog, get down! Get down!" Shane yelled out a warning, cocking his gun and shooting the window once, but again there was barely a blemish made to the surface.

"Shit." Amity muttered to herself, not thinking of the child next to her as she looked at the windows that may as well have been made of steel from the way they were holding up.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia asked and Amity reached for her hand, helping her up from where she had taken cover along with Glenn.

"Rick, I have something that might help." Carol said, moving forward as Amity tucked Sophia against her side in her mother's absence.

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shane said.

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket." Carol continued, ignoring the former cop in favor of his friend as she held out the grenade she had dug from her bag.

Amity stared at the woman in shock for a moment until Rick began to move towards the window and Amity ushered Sophia away from the site and down the stairs.

She pulled her down with her, Carol falling on the girl's other side as they both covered her with their bodies, a hand tucking Amity's head under a broad chest as well.

The redhead's ears rang as they all stumbled to their feet, her protector gone once they were up and moving. They rushed towards the window, climbing out with haste before sprinting across the open courtyard, taking out walkers as they went.

Amity used her machete and slashed through the head of one that crossed her path, keeping pace with Daryl- or was it the man keeping pace with her- as they made towards the vehicles. Throwing their things into the truck, Amity looked back towards the CDC and caught a glimpse of Andrea and Dale running towards them as the horn of the Winnebago blared.

"Get down!" Daryl yelled at her and the woman threw herself into the truck just as he did, his body covering her's as they laid back flat against the seat.

The explosion was heat before it was noise, but both were intense. Amity felt like she had been seared to her core and reborn from whatever the hell had happened inside that building.

Tentatively, the pair sat up, looking at one another with wide eyes before Daryl let out a breath and Amity pushed a hand through her tousled ginger locks.

Without a word, Daryl moved over to the driver's side of the vehicle and grabbed the key from the dashboard, sticking it into the ignition and starting the truck with a small roar.

They were on the move, again.


	6. Chapter 6

The CDC had left a tension amongst the group that was hard to break. Between the loss of Jacqui, Shane losing it with the gun, Andrea trying to stay, and Dale doing whatever he had done to convince her otherwise- it was a hard few days on the road.

Sweat trailed down Amity's spine as she sat in the RV, one foot tucked underneath her butt as she kept blue eyes trained on the ceiling, trying to ignore the stifling heat that wasn't made any better by the number of bodies crammed into the Winnebago.

A day or so earlier gas had gotten tight so Shane and Daryl were forced to ditch their vehicles along with the van so they were just down to what Amity had learned was Merle's, Daryl's brother that had been left behind, motorcycle, a car that she believed was Carol's, and the RV.

It was a snug fit and Amity had to focus on not killing anyone as the heat made her patience shorter than usual.

A noise of worry from the front of the vehicle had Shane turning as Amity did, him pulling himself from his conversation with Andrea while the redhead was just pulling herself from her own mind. She waited for a moment as the familiar noise of a motorcycle rumbled closer and Dale leaned out his window.

"See a way through?" Dale asked who Amity assumed to be Daryl since she couldn't see from where she remained seated.

"Uh, maybe we should just go back." Glenn suggested as the RV began moving again, Daryl apparently seeing a way through the mess of cars that stretched across the interstate in front of them. "There's an interstate bypass a few miles back."

"We can't spare the fuel." Dale told the young man, causing him to fall silent, resigned to their plan of moving forward.

Rolling through the graveyard of cars and bodies, Amity felt a shiver roll down her spine. She watched out the window nearest to her, taking in the sight of a young woman laying dead against her window and wrapped her arms around herself.

Suddenly a loud bang had her jumping, eyes wide until a large hand rested on her shoulder and she looked up and over to see T-Dog looking at her with something close to reassurance.

"It was just the engine." He told her and she couldn't help but roll her eyes good-naturedly at the man.

"As long as it was _just_ the engine that is transporting the six of us through this hell." She said in response and he gave her a look.

"You know what I meant." T-Dog replied before they were all climbing out of the RV and onto the highway, the heat rolling off the asphalt in waves.

"I said it. Didn't I say it?" Dale was lamenting as they walked to the front of the vehicle. "A thousand times- dead in the water."

"Problem, Dale?" Rick asked as he and his car full joined them.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-" Dale began before trailing off as Daryl joined them, the man heading straight for the trunk of a nearby car and tugging out items of interest.

"Okay, that was dumb." The older man admitted.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane began.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl insisted, not pausing in his scavenging.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog suggested, moving forward towards the abandoned vehicles and Amity had to agree that it was a pretty solid plan and began to trail after him.

"This is a graveyard." Lori cut across the group's revelation of resources and Amity paused, turning to look at the brunette woman with a bit of confliction brewing in her chest. That was what she had first thought when she saw the place, but the need to survive overpowered her hesitance until it was brought to her attention once more.

"I don't know how I feel about this." The mother continued.

"Come on, y'all." T-Dog said again, obviously not perturbed by her words. "Just look around, gather what you can."

Amity nodded slowly at that, continuing on her way to follow the man and help him collect fuel from the abandoned cars as she tried to not think about who had previously sat in them. Sure, when she was on her own she had scavenged from a few stores and single abandoned vehicles but seeing them all grouped in this way was a different experience.

The pair, with a bit of assistance from Daryl, made quick work of filling the gas tanks they had with them. Dipping hoses into the fuel tanks of cars they sucked the gas up until it would flow into the containers and just waited until switching them out and hauling them back.

It was glamorous by no means, but it would make sure they could eventually be on the move for a while.

"Bet you never thought you'd be siphoning fuel on the interstate the day you got your doctorate, huh?" T-Dog asked the redhead, teasing her a bit as they worked.

"You know, oddly enough, I didn't. I only saw air conditioned offices and maybe a shiny diamond ring in my future- but I'll take what I can get." Amity replied with a small laugh, capping her filled gas canister as heavy footsteps passed her and she noticed Daryl was moving further down the interstate.

He seemed to like working on his own more than anything else, but he had been hovering around the pair until right then.

"You have a fiancé or something before all of this?" T-Dog asked her and Amity just shook her head.

"Not a chance, I barely dated. You have to date to meet your future partner." She reasoned, not shying away from a bit of self-depreciation for humor's sake.

"You didn't date?" The man question, looking at her with disbelief. "I can't see that."

"Believe it. I didn't really make time for a social life outside of work- my brother rode my ass about it constantly." She admitted with an eye roll at the memories.

"Your brother... he still out there?" Her companion questioned and Amity fell silent, blue eyes looking at the other man for a long moment.

"I think he is. He's a fighter." She said, voice quieter once she finally spoke up.

"Like you." T-Dog stated and Amity couldn't help the small smile that rose to her lips at that.

She went to reply but the sound of glass crunching against asphalt had her looking around, brow furrowing as she wondered who in their group was making that much noise.

As her eyes landed on the first couple of walkers stumbling down the interstate in their direction, Amity froze. Her breath was stuck in her throat and she didn't think to move until T-Dog was tugging at her arm, leading them behind a wrecked vehicle and pulling her down to hide.

As he squatted next to him, Amity heard a pained hiss escape his lips and suddenly there was blood covering the knee of her jeans. T-Dog had sliced his arm wide open on the wreckage it seemed. Immediately, the redhead was tugging off her t-shirt, leaving her in a dirty white tank-top as she wrapped the cloth tightly around his arm, trying to stop some of the bleeding.

So focused on her task, Amity seemed to forget about the walkers heading their way but thankfully for her, T-Dog did not. He had the both of them on the move again, ducking around cars until he finally paused, unsteady on his feet due to blood loss despite Amity's attempts.

"Shit, shit, shit." Amity cursed quietly, throwing the man's uninjured arm over her shoulders as she tried to keep them moving but being half his size was making it difficult and the walkers were getting closer.

Just as they stumbled to a halt, all but falling to the asphalt, a walker came around the corner and set its eyes on the pair, apparently having followed T-Dog's blood trail.

Detangling herself from her friend, Amity rose to her feet, realizing all at once that her bow laid abandoned in the RV since she was focused on collecting gas and needed her hands free. She was weaponless and feeling like maybe she deserved dying for such stupidity, but she refused to let T-Dog fall victim as well.

She readied herself to try to do whatever she could to fend off the walker, placing a well-aimed kick to the thing's chest to send it stumbling back and into a pair of familiar arms whose owner quickly silenced the creature.

Blue eyes met blue eyes as Daryl held a finger to his lips, quickly hushing the woman and gesturing for her to hide under a nearby car as he tugged T-Dog further onto his back.

The woman hesitated only a moment before obeying, deciding to suddenly trust Daryl with T-Dog's life like she found she trusted him with her own. She watched with a bit of horror as he covered T-Dog with the dead walker before tugging another corpse out of a car and using it to cover himself.

He was _ridiculously_ clever at times.

Survival flowed through that man like blood flowed through everyone else.

Waiting with bated breath from under the car, Amity alternated from simply focusing on not breathing too loudly due to fear and watching the two men beneath the dead bodies to make sure that they were still undetected.

She wasn't sure what her plan of action was if they were found out, but she knew that she couldn't make herself stay under the car as they both would have wanted- she wasn't that kind of person no matter what self-preservation would have her do.

After what felt like centuries, the stumbling footsteps around them faded into the distance and Amity met Daryl's eyes briefly before the man nodded, letting her know that she could come out from under the car as he hauled T-Dog to his feet.

The trio moved quickly once standing, Amity helping Daryl all but drag T-Dog back to the RV. She noticed everyone else running towards the guardrail as they approached, but couldn't be bothered to leave T-Dog's side as Daryl did once he was dumped in a chair.

With haste, Amity moved into the RV, barely pausing at the sight of the bloody mess within it as she grabbed the first aid kit and rushed back out to her friend's side.

"Keep breathing, T." Amity told the man as she wiped away the blood covering his arm as gently as she could, but she was relieved to see that at least the blood flow had stemmed a bit.

"Am I gonna live, Doc?" T-Dog asked and Amity couldn't help but snort.

"I told y'all I'm not the useful kind of doctor." Amity reminded him, cleaning the wound as she talked without giving him warning. Sometimes faster and sudden was better- like ripping off a band-aid. "But I'm pretty sure you'll get to keep the arm." She added, teasing him through his hiss of pain then finally starting to wrap his arm.

It wasn't long before they were joined by others and filled in on what had happened. Upon hearing that Sophia had been chased into the woods, Amity was devastated for the little girl who had to be terrified and for her mother who was obviously and understandably distraught.

"Rick will do everything he can to keep her safe, Carol." Amity told the older woman, grasping her hand firmly and meeting her eyes as she spoke.

Amity remained behind when Rick came back empty-handed, much to everyone's distress, and took Daryl, Shane, and Glenn out into the woods with him.

Carol's eyes turned to the redhead after the men's backs faded into the woods and Amity took a deep breath before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around her.

"They'll find her." She said with confidence, not losing hope in their group that all cared about one another more than Amity would have ever counted on a group of strangers being able to in such a high stress environment.

"Let's keep scavenging, okay? We'll be able to find more things of use." Amity suggested to the group that was still on the interstate.

Noting Lori's hesitation that still lingered, Amity stepped forward to lay a slender hand on the woman's shoulder, meeting her eyes before glancing pointedly at Carol who was staring into the woods once more.

"Carol, I think I saw something in the back of a Camry up ahead that looks useful." Lori said suddenly, looking past Amity towards her friend then, seemingly have gotten the redhead's hint.

It didn't take long before Shane and Glenn were climbing up the hill next to the interstate alone and a sob was falling from Carol's lips as Amity let her eyes fall shut for a second before she was moving towards them.

"Rick and Daryl are still following a trail." Shane informed them, mainly looking to Carol as he spoke. "He sent us back to get started on clearing the road so that we can set out when they get back with her."

The group only took a moment's pause before they began moving under Shane's direction, searching cars before putting them in neutral and shoving them off the road the best that they could.

"Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?" Carol asked after a long while, seemingly antsy about the situation. Amity could definitely understand why.

"We have to clear enough room so I can get the RV turned around as soon as it's running." Dale told her, trying to soothe her a bit as she looked back towards the woods again. "Now that we have fuel we can double back to a bypass that Glenn flagged on the map."

"Going back's going to be easier than trying to get through this mess." Shane added, walking over as they all began to gather.

"We're not going anywhere until my daughter gets back." Carol said firmly and Amity leaned forward to run a hand comfortingly down her arm.

"We would never leave Sophia behind." She reassured the woman.

"Hey, that goes without saying." Lori added, the three women coming together for a moment as Lori and Amity both tried to soothe the distraught mother.

"Rick and Daryl, they're on it, okay?" Shane told Carol, working to reassure her as well. "Just a matter of time."

"Can't be soon enough for me." Andrea piped up, all eyes turning to her then as Carol moved away from the group and towards the guardrail. "I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by- or whatever you'd call it."

"We're all freaked out." Amity told her, sighing a bit as the Sophia situation seemed to take a back seat to them for a moment. She understood the fear and not wanting to dwell on the situation, but the little girl was still out there. That needed to be priority number one.

"Yeah, what was that? All of them just marching along like that." Glenn said, sounding uncomfortable.

"A herd. That sounds about right." Shane said thoughtfully. "We've seen it. It's like the night camp got attacked. Some wandering pack, only fewer."

A moment of silence fell between them all before the man seemed to come out of his head and back to the present, letting out a sigh as he did so. "Okay-  
come on, people. We still got a lot to do. Let's stay on it." He directed.

At that, Amity climbed back into one of the cars in the way and forced it into neutral before hopping out and motioning Glenn and Andrea over to her to help shove it out of the way and off the road.

They worked for a few hours more, loading up supplies as soon as they had all of the cars moved out of the way. The only bit of excitement to be had was Shane picking up a radio broadcast, but the sound of an automated message telling them help was on the way was surprisingly less than reassuring to Amity after months abandoned by the government and whoever else.

Now, Amity was helping to haul water to the RV and load it up, unable to really lift one of the water jugs but she could carry it a few inches above the ground to move it at least.

"Where's my gun?" Andrea's voice cut across the small clearing they had made around the RV. "You have no right to take it."

Amity wandered over to the woman and Dale who she was talking to, sensing a confrontation that may need a bit of intervention.

"You don't need that just now, do you?" Dale asked her, trying to avoid an argument.

"My father gave it to me." Andrea told him sternly. "It's mine."

"I can hold onto it for you."

"Or you can give it back to me."

"Everything cool?" Shane interrupted the pair as Amity was about to, the man looking between the blonde and older man, glancing to the redhead woman observing the scene only briefly.

"No, I want my gun back." Andrea told him, sounding a bit like a child asking her father to take her toy back from another child.

"I don't think it's a good idea right now." Dale said simply.

"Why not?" Shane asked and Amity nearly sighed, just when she thought Shane was going to settle the argument, he eggs it on.

"I'm not comfortable with it." Dale muttered and Andrea scoffed in response.

"The truth is, less guns we have floating around camp the better." Shane spoke up once more, trying _then_ to soothe over the situation.

"You turning over your weapon?" Andrea asked him.

"No, but I'm trained in its use." Shane told her patiently. "That's what the rest of y'all need- proper training, but until that time I think it's best if Dale keeps them all accounted for."

Andrea scoffed once more before turning from the men, obviously not pleased by the outcome of the conversation.

"Mind telling me what that's about?" Shane asked Dale as Amity moved closer to them then, wanting to be clued in as well, but they were interrupted by Glenn rushing forward.

"Oh God, they're back." He called out.

Amity moved with the rest of the group over to the guard rail, her steps slowing once she saw that the two men were returning alone.

"You didn't find her?" Carol asked, her voice breaking and Amity moved to her side as Lori came up behind her.

"Her trail went cold." Rick told the mother. "We'll pick it up again at first light."

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods." Carol insisted and Amity rubbed gentle circles on the woman's back between her shoulder blades, hoping to steady her a bit.

"Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves." Daryl chimed in, his voice sounding more gentle than Amity had ever heard it. "More people get lost."

"But she's _twelve_. She can't be out there on her own." Carol said, her voice wavering. "You didn't find anything?"

"I know this is hard, but I'm asking you not to panic." Rick soothed, his police training showing itself. "We know she was out there."

"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl added.

Meeting the pair of Georgia blues, Amity could clearly see the guilt lingering behind them. The pair had definitely tried to find the little girl, there was no doubt in her mind about that as Rick tried to get the distraught mother to understand where they were coming from. From what laid in Daryl's expression, Amity knew that he wouldn't have stopped looking unless they had to.

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody." Rick told her. "I've asked him to oversee this."

Carol's mind had moved on quickly though as she stared at the leg of Daryl's pants.

"Is that blood?" She asked, her voice faint as her breathing kicked up a notch.

"Carol, honey, breathe." Amity requested, her voice barely a whisper in the woman's ears as she grasped her hand for support.

"We took down a walker." Rick revealed after the two men had looked at one another and Daryl made it obvious that _he_ didn't know what to tell the panicking woman.

"Walker?" Carol echoed. "Oh my God."

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." Rick reassured her.

"How can you know that?" Andrea asked from the back of the group and Amity turned a not-so-friendly look her way. Never before had she wanted to flick someone so badly.

"We cut the sumbitch open- made sure." Daryl stated hesitantly.

"Oh God." Carol gasped out, looking faint as she stumbled to sit on the guardrail. Amity moved with her, crouching in front of her as Lori settled by her side. They fussed over the panicking woman for a moment before Carol turned on Rick.

"How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" She asked, voice hard and Amity looked to Rick then as well, trying to tell him with her eyes that the woman didn't really hold him accountable. She just needed someone to blame to help her in that moment.

Coping method- that's all it was.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance." Rick told her, all but pleading with her to understand.

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane added, always backing up his friend.

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child." Carol said, her breathing coming out in gasps. "She's just a child."

"It was my only option. The only choice I could make." Rick said, voice full of guilt as he got down to his knees next to Amity.

"I'm sure nobody doubts that." Shane soothed.

"My little girl got left in the woods." Carol cried one last time before Amity sat forward, gaining the woman's attention.

"Carol, we are going to find your daughter." She said firmly, holding her gaze. "In the morning, at first light, we are all going to get up and go out there. We are going to follow Daryl's lead and we are going to find that little girl. I won't stop until I find her, okay? Rick won't stop. Daryl won't stop."

There was a moment of silence between them as Carol searched the redhead's gaze, looking for any hint of her lying just to comfort her, but then she nodded, accepting the woman's words before they rose to move back to the RV together with the group.

* * *

"Everybody takes a weapon."

Amity watched as a bag of melee weapons was rolled open on the hood of the car they were gathered around. She stepped forward to eye the machete, comparing it to her own before deciding that her's along with her bow would suit her well enough.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea cut in, looking at Rick as he began to move away.

"We've been over that." Shane spoke up, giving Andrea a pointed look. "Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. Speaking of which- Amity hand over that piece you keep tucked away."

"What?" Amity said, looking over to him and narrowing her eyes at him a bit.

She didn't know that anyone knew about the gun she had grabbed from her car in the beginning. She had never bothered to use it- it was just too noisy and she had her bow anyways.

"You heard me before. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles." Shane told her, moving towards her as he spoke and Amity couldn't help but scoff.

"Shane, it was so nice of you to assume that I'm not, but I _am_ trained in handling this gun." Amity told him, taking a step back from him as he stepped a bit too into her space for her comfort.

"Sure, you are." Andrea said, sounding unimpressed by the exchange and Amity couldn't help but toss a flat look her way.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us." Shane explained.

"Yes, I get that." Amity told him, losing a bit of her patience. "I have my concealed carry. I have it in my fuc- _freaking_ bag if you would like me to go and get it." She added, censoring herself when she noticed Carl was listening in.

"It doesn't matter. We're going melee today anyways." Shane insisted. "Now hand it over, it's for the good of the group." He added, stepping forward once more, his hand reaching for her hip where her gun sat concealed under her shirt.

Taking another step back, Amity all but bared her teeth at the man, feeling more on edge than usual being out in the heat in an exposed area.

"Touch me and I'll shoot you and prove I can handle the damn thing." She spat, having Shane raising his hands in a show of surrender while Rick stepped between them, looking at Amity with a bit of exhaustion behind his gaze.

"Amity, now I don't doubt that you can handle that gun for a second. You've shown yourself to be more than an asset to this group, but I'd appreciate you handing over your gun for Dale to keep an eye on just for the peace of mind of the group." He said, trying to talk her down as he had done before.

Granted, Amity knew she was being a bit over-the-top about the situation, but she was frustrated to no end about the lack of confidence the men seemed to have in her and she was on edge with the suspicion that it was simply because she was a woman, which had her wanting to go ahead and rid them of their manhood to put them on even ground in their eyes.

She wasn't irrational though and she wasn't looking for a fight, at least not with Rick who she respected, so reluctantly she gave in and unclipped the holster from around her waist, passing it to Dale instead into Shane's waiting hand.

Petty Amity was officially out to play.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side." Daryl cut in then, breaking the tension surrounding the group though he looked distinctly uncomfortable at all eyes being turned to him for a plan. "Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

He moved as soon as he was done speaking, seeming to want to get out of the spotlight as quickly as possible and settled on the edge of the group just behind Amity.

"Stay quiet and stay sharp." Rick told everyone. "Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other."

"Everybody assemble your packs." Shane called out.

Turning away from everyone, Amity nearly ran smack into the sleeveless shirt clad chest of a familiar man that she felt she hadn't spoken to in _ages_. Ditching the truck had really cut into their interaction time.

"You shouldn't have handed your gun over like that." Daryl told her and Amity let out a small huff of air- a cross between a scoff and a laugh.

"I didn't want to start a fight. It's easier just to play nice."

"Easier for who?" Daryl asked her and Amity hesitated, looking at the man with a bit of exasperation. It seemed he always had her questioning herself.

Without giving him an answer, Amity moved past him with a shake of her head, heading towards the woods and stepping over the guardrail before pausing and waiting for everyone else to be ready to move out as well.

She kept her eyes trained on the ground as Andrea went after Dale, her words ringing with a truth that was hard to deny, but Amity saw where Dale was coming from. In the old world, Amity would have been sitting down with Andrea already to talk about her decision to stay in the CDC, she would be trying to work through the issue with her and hopefully help her to realize life was worth living, but this wasn't the old world.

This was a new kind of hell and though Amity still had her morals, the rules had changed.

Once the group was finally on the move again, Amity found herself between Glenn and Carol as they walked through the forest. The group kept a fairly quick pace, wanting to cover as much ground as possible, but the redhead couldn't help but inwardly cringe at how loud their movements were in the woods whose silence was only broken by the sound of the insects that lived there.

Rounding a bend, Amity paused behind the group that was crouching, lowering herself down a bit but not enough to not be able to see the large tent that they were all eyeing wearily.

"She could be in there." Shane stated as he made his way to the front of the group, apparently to point out the obvious.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there." Daryl replied quietly before he began stalking forward, Rick and Shane trailing behind him more slowly.

Amity's eyes didn't leave the hunter as he moved- taking in the way he prowled like a wild animal himself. After their noisy tromp through the woods, it was even more obvious how his footsteps made no noise as he ghosted along the forest floor.

He belonged there, the woods were as much a part of him as he seemed to be a part of them.

"Carol." Rick called back to them, breaking Amity out of her small trance as the older woman moved forward to hover between Shane and Rick. "Call out softly. If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear."

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there?" Carol called out, doing as she was told. "Sophia, it's mommy. Sophia. We're all here, baby." She tried again. "It's mommy."

With no response from within the tent, Daryl moved to unzip it slowly, the noise of the zipper grating at Amity's already frayed nerves due to the stifling tension of the situation. All three of the men that gathered around the tent began coughing, small gags escaping them, and Amity knew then that whatever was in there couldn't be pleasant.

Watching as Daryl ducked into the tent, the redhead white-knuckled the bow in her hands as they all waited for him to reappear.

"Daryl?" Carol called out, her nerves showing. "Daryl?" She called again, her only response being that the man finally came out of the tent.

"It ain't her." He told everyone.

"What's in there?" Andrea asked, always the curious one. The way Amity figured it, some things were better left unknown.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out." Daryl told her, glancing towards Amity for a brief moment before looking back at Andrea. "Ain't that what he called it?"

There was barely a moment between Daryl speaking and the sound of church bells echoing through the woods. It was a sound that was familiar to Amity, reminding her of childhood Sundays spent being taken to Sunday school before sitting through a sermon.

The group took off in the direction it sounded like they were coming from before pausing for a second at the top of a hill, looking all around them as they tried to place the sound.

"What direction?" Shane asked.

"I think that way. I'm pretty sure." Rick said, pointing and moving the way he said, Amity following him without pause.

"Damn, it's hard to tell out here." Shane added, sounding frustrated.

"If we heard them, maybe Sophia did too." Carol piped up, her voice hopeful.

"Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others." Glenn added.

"Or signaling they found her." Amity couldn't help but say, offering Carol a small but reassuring smile.

"She could be ringing them herself." Rick told them before taking off, the rest of the group right on his heels.

Breaking through the woods, they were all confronted with a graveyard that lay right beside a white church.

"That can't be it." Shane said. "Got no steeple, no bells."

It seemed that Rick wasn't listening though as he pushed forward, running towards the church. Again, Amity was following the man without hesitation. She was as determined to find Sophia as Rick and Daryl were and was more than capable of holding her own, so she had no reason to hesitate in following the man as he rushed towards the building on a bit of hope, though she was a bit slower as she took special care not to step on any graves.

The last thing they needed was to be cursed by the dead while trying to avoid being eaten by them.

Rick held up a hand to halt her in her tracks once they reached the church doors, Shane moving in behind him as Daryl moved to step around Amity, placing himself between her and the doors without a word.

Daryl and Rick looked at one another, counting down before pushing open the church doors and preparing for whatever was inside.

Looking down the aisle, Amity counted three bodies in the pews that quickly revealed themselves to be walkers as they turned with small growls- the look of one of the men having the redhead's blood freezing in her veins.

It wasn't often that a walker unsettled the woman as much as that one did, but she pushed the feeling away as she handed her bow back to Carol and unsheathed her machete, heading for the heavier walker coming down the center aisle.

Without a word she braced a hand on its chest, knocking it back a step before she shoved the sharp end of her machete through its skull, pulling it out with a sickening squelch before embedding it in the top of its head for good measure as Rick took out the walker that freaked her out and Daryl made kissy noises at the other, hopping back out of the way after he brained it and it fell to the floor.

Amity paused to catch her breath, ignoring the look that Shane was sending her way since she had barged in the room before he had the chance.

"Sophia!" Rick yelled, going for the side door.

"Yo, J.C., you takin' requests?" Daryl asked the Jesus statue in the front of the room and Amity suddenly felt sick to her stomach looking at the demolished skull of the walker at her feet.

Turning blue eyes onto the cross on the wall, Amity took a moment to let her eyes fall closed, asking for forgiveness before steeling herself and taking a step back, heading for the doors they had come in through without a glance back, taking her bow out of Carol's hands.

Amity wasn't a particularly religious person, but she had grown up around religion. Her daddy had taken her and her brother to church every Sunday until they were in high school and he let them decide for themselves whether to go or not. Michael stopped going almost immediately but Amity had kept at it until she got busier with a social life and her extracurriculars. Her dad still went every Sunday morning though.

"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick." Shane told his friend as Amity passed. "There's no steeple."

The redhead jumped as bells sounded through the air again, this time deafeningly loud as she stood just outside the doors. It was only a second before Daryl was shoving past her along with Glenn, and the rest of the group followed along after them.

Turning the corner of the church they spotted a speaker and Amity couldn't help but sigh as the ringing stopped, Glenn having done something with the box connected to the speaker.

"A timer." Daryl told them, breathing heavily. "It's on a timer."

"I'm gonna go back in for a bit." Carol spoke up and Amity watched her walk away with sadness in her chest. She had made the woman a promise and so far, she was falling short on it.

Amity moved away from everyone else as well, taking a moment for herself as she began to wander through the graveyard that they had sprinted through. She ran one of her hands lightly over the gravestones as she went, reading names and dates of people who died in a world that hopefully made a lot more sense to them then than the one they were living in now did to her.

Suddenly, the thought of death without a gravestone being placed over her head freaked her out and as she felt a presence just behind her, but heard no footsteps, Amity didn't bother looking over her shoulder before speaking.

"When I die, do me a favor and find me a headstone of some sort." She requested. "I don't want to be an unmarked grave that leaves behind an unrested spirit."

"Ya believe in that kind of shit?" A gruff voice replied, making a small smile flit across her lips.

"I guess I do." She said, shrugging lightly as she turned to look at him.

"Bigger things to worry about than an unrested spirit." Daryl reasoned, but Amity shook her head.

"Not when it's your spirit that's not resting." She quipped back before noticing that the group was gathering back up again a little ways away.

"Let's get to hunting that little girl then, shall we?" Amity suggested, motioning towards the group, but Daryl just let out a small snort.

"I don't know what ya've been doing all day, girl, but _I've_ been huntin' for her."

With that, the pair joined the group just before Shane headed their way, Rick following along behind.

"Y'all gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge." Shane told them, nodding Daryl's way as he spoke. "Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."

"You're splitting us up." Daryl asked, not sounding convinced by their plan. "Ya sure?"

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane replied.

"I want to stay too." Carl interjected, making everyone look at him with a bit of shock. "I'm her friend."

Amity watched as Shane and Rick exchanged a look before the parents did, deciding what to say before Lori stepped forward.

"Just be careful, okay?" She requested of her son, surprising Amity with the fact she was allowing him to go.

"I will." Carl promised.

"When did you start growing up?" Lori asked him, engulfing him in a hug.

"I'll be along soon enough." Rick told his family and Amity hesitated a moment before stepping forward.

"Need an extra set of eyes?" She asked Shane, looking to Rick and Carl before back at the man she had a spat with.

Sure, they had fought but Shane was still the first person that Amity had really talked to in the group- one of the people whose life she had saved during the attack in the quarry before she even knew his name.

"She can come with us." Daryl cut in from behind her, making her throw him a glare over her shoulder.

"She can come with us too. We'd be grateful for the help." Shane said in response, gaining a smile from Amity as she moved to his side then.

"Ya don't even have a gun." Daryl called over to Amity who turned to him once more, eyes narrowing.

"I can handle myself just fine with or without a gun. Thank you, Dixon." She snapped, holding up her bow as if to prove a point.

Daryl glared at the redhead just as openly, moving to say more but Rick spoke up over him.

"Here, take this. Remember how to use it?" He said, talking to his wife as he offered out his gun to her.

"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed." Lori argued and with a sigh Daryl pulled another gun from his belt, handing it to the woman though his eyes didn't leave Amity- a smart decision really since the redhead wanted nothing more than to lodge an arrow in his ass in that moment.

"Here, got a spare. Take it." Daryl told the brunette before walking back towards the woods, his icy eyes leaving Amity only once he had fully turned and the woman stared at his back with annoyance as the rest of the group followed him.

"Give me a minute?" Rick requested and Amity nodded as Shane muttered a small consent.

"You seem to have found yourself a guard dog." Shane spoke up once Rick disappeared into the church and Amity looked up from her hiking boots to see that he was talking to her.

"What?" She asked, raising a brow.

"Daryl- he seems to always be watching your back now, got a bit protective right then, don't you think? Nearly bit my head off for saying you could come with us." Shane clarified, a small smirk on his lips while Amity just glared at him half-heartedly before shrugging one shoulder up towards her head.

"We just get each other sometimes, but right now was not one of those times." She told him, pursing her lips. "You know more than anyone that I don't need someone protecting me." She added.

"But it's nice to have. Can't get through this whole thing alone." Shane reasoned, his voice a bit heavier in that moment.

Amity tilted her head, looking at the man a bit more closely as Carl wandered off to the side to look at a nearby headstone. She saw something behind the stoic face he put on- a hint of sadness, guilt, and something else that she couldn't place.

Stepping forward, she rested a slender hand gently on his arm, catching his gaze.

"Lucky for us, we don't have to." She said and he dropped his eyes from hers, nodding, but Amity didn't buy his agreement to her words.

A noise from behind them had Amity turning, her bow raising a bit before she caught sight of Rick and immediately lowered it.

"Get what you needed?" Shane asked his friend as he came over to them, Amity watching Shane closely as he spoke.

"Guess I'll find out." Rick said in return, gesturing towards the woods to get their small search party moving.

They walked up along the creek in silence. Amity's eyes alternated between scanning the ground and the woods around them as they went, hoping and praying for any sign of Sophia.

It was only when branches snapped nearby that they paused, Rick holding up a hand for them to stop and she did so just behind Carl.

They stood in silence, all eyes turned to where Rick's were until a buck emerged from the foliage- stepping into the clearing in a way that had Amity's father's voice echoing in her head.

 _"There's a difference in being fearless and stupid, bug."_

 _"That deer just happens to be the latter."_ Her brother's voice followed, making a small smile appear on her lips.

Her bow raised just as Shane's gun did.

"Shane. Amity." Rick whispered, gesturing at Carl who was now slowly making his way towards the buck.

It was a moment from a Disney film, a peaceful feeling settling over Amity as she witnessed two creatures of innocence, a child and a deer, come face to face in such a chaotic world.

The chaos fell away as the two looked at one another, seemingly as in awe or confused by the other as the other was, but the chaos fell right back into place as a gunshot sounded, echoing through the woods while both the buck and Carl crumpled to the ground.

There was a split second of silence that followed the shot, Amity's ears ringing as she looked at the young boy on the leaves.

"Oh no." Rick whispered at her side, the pain in his voice flooding through her as her shaking hands covered her mouth, inching towards her eyes as they often did when she needed a moment to gather herself- confronted with something too painful to handle.

"No." Rick said, rushing forward in a way that snapped Amity into action as well. She raised her bow, directing it at the trees around them as the father crumpled at his son's side, hands hovering over his body as he didn't know what to do. "No, no, no, no!"


	7. Chapter 7

"I'm sorry- I'm so sorry!" A voice sounded from the tree line before a man appeared, his face screwed up in distress that soon turned to fear as he found himself staring at an arrow and the barrel of a gun.

"Who the fuck are you?" Amity spat, her aim never wavering as the man stopped at the threat they presented.

"I didn't see the boy, I swear! I've been tracking that deer all day- couldn't believe I finally got a shot on it. I didn't see the boy until after they both hit the ground!" The man defended.

Lucky for him, Rick was pushing himself to his feet with Carl dangling limp in his arms, the action serving to pull both Shane and Amity's attention away from the man they were barely restraining themselves from putting down.

"I can help him! I can get him help!" The man told them. "The man I'm staying with- he has medical training!"

 _That_ got their attention.

"Where?" Rick asked.

"About 5 miles to the east, there's a farm that my group is staying at." The man directed, looking between the trio.

Without another word, Rick was off and Shane was pushing the man on.

"Come on, asshole- show us the way!" He demanded, both of them running forward with Amity at their side.

"Is it directly east?" Amity asked the unknown man. "A straight shot?"

"It should be. You'll stumble on the fence if anything and you can follow that up to the house." He said in response and Amity nodded before picking up the pace.

She quickly passed by Rick, pushing herself and thanking the universe that she had been a fan of long morning runs before the world went to shit.

"Amity!" Shane yelled after her, but she didn't stop, instead pushing herself harder as she ducked through the woods, dodging low limbs and taking care not to trip over anything as she went.

It wasn't too terribly long before she was running up on a house and spotted a small group of people standing on the porch watching her with narrowed eyes.

Skidding to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, she realized that the only weapon the five had between them was the baseball bat that the teenaged boy had in his hands.

"Your man... he shot a young boy... part of my group... said you had someone here that could help, someone with medical training." Amity told them, gasping as she braced her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath.

"Otis?" The blonde woman asked, but Amity didn't have the breath or patience to answer her.

"That'd be me you're looking for. My name is Hershel... and you are?" The older man spoke up, causing the redhead to look his way.

"Amity." She said, finally able to stand up straight.

"It looks like your man is about here." The younger brunette chimed in, pointing across the field to where Rick was now appearing out of the trees.

"Patricia, I need my full kit. Maggie- painkillers, coagulates. Grab everything. Clean towels, sheets, and alcohol." Hershel told the group, the brunette and older woman moving at his directions and heading into the house.

A few moments later, Rick was at the porch.

"Help me- Help my boy." The father begged and Hershel nodded, gesturing for him to follow him inside of the house.

"In here." He directed, ducking into one of the rooms and Rick quickly followed, putting Carl down on the bed that he stumbled up to.

"Pillowcase." Hershel requested.

"Is he alive?" Rick asked, voice distraught.

"Pillowcase, quick." Hershel told him.

"Is- is he alive?" Rick asked again, but did as the man instructed and shucked a pillowcase from one of the pillows.

"Fold it, make a pad." The older man continued to guide him as Amity lingered in the doorway, unsure of what to do to help. She figured staying out of the way was the best option for her at this point.

"Put pressure on the wound." Hershel said, pulling out a stethoscope and leaning over Carl, everyone falling quiet as he listened for a pulse.

"I've got a heartbeat- It's faint." He finally said, gesturing Rick away.

"Step back." He requested before looking over his shoulder at the brunette. "Maggie, IV."

"We need some space." Maggie told Rick and Amity stepped forward to help guide the distraught father from the room.

"Your name?" Hershel asked when it was clear that the man wasn't moving.

"R-Rick." The father responded after a moment.

"Rick?"

"I'm- I'm Rick."

"Rick, we're gonna do everything we can, okay?" Hershel told him, his voice firm. "You need to give us some room. Now."

Amity stepped in at that, a gentle hand closing around Rick's bicep to tug him along from the room. The man seemed to be in a bit of a daze and she heard the sound of Shane's yelling from the yard which led her to turn them both towards the door that they had come in from, meeting the two other men on the porch.

"He's still alive?" The man who shot Carl, Otis, asked.

Rick just stared at the pair, looking lost and Amity met Shane's eyes before stepping away from the former sherieff's side and letting his friend move to take care of him.

"Hershel found a heartbeat." Amity let Otis know, the man looking relieved at that fact through they both knew that didn't mean he would survive.

The pair followed Shane and Rick back into the house and towards the room that Carl laid in, pausing just inside the door.

"You know his blood type?" Hershel asked Rick as they entered.

"A-positive, same as mine." Rick replied.

"No shit? Me too." Amity piped up, not that it was too unusual for two people to have the same blood type, but she was relieved that she would be useful in this terrible situation.

"That's fortunate." Hershel told them. "Don't wander far, I'm gonna need the both of you."

The older man looked to his man then. "What happened?"

"I was tracking a buck." Otis began to explain, sounding completely tore up over the situation he had found himself in. "Bullet went through it. Went clean through."

"The deer slowed the bullet down, which certainly saved his life, but it did not go through clean." Hershel told the group in the room. "It broke up into pieces.  
If I can get the bullet fragments out- and I'm countin' six..."

"I never saw him. Not until he was on the ground." Otis said, going to Patricia, the blonde woman who Amity was now assuming was his wife.

"Lori doesn't know?" Rick asked suddenly, grabbing both Shane and Amity's attention.

"No, she-" Shane began but Rick spoke over him.

"My wife doesn't know." He said again, his voice breaking as sobs finally began to force their way through him. "My wife doesn't know."

They found themselves in the living room not too much later, sat in silence as they tried to wrap their heads around how everything went down hill so fast. How a moment of peace turned into one of the worst experiences they had dealt with.

"Why'd I let him come with us?" Rick asked, breaking the silence. "I should've sent him with Lori."

"You know, you start that and you never get that monkey off your back." Shane told him, shaking his head.

"Little girl goes missing, you look for her. Simple." Rick continued as if the man hadn't spoken. "You said to call it, head back."

"Doesn't matter what I said." Shane replied.

"Carl got shot because I wouldn't cut bait." Rick said and Amity had to bite her tongue, not agreeing that they should have ever stopped looking, but knowing that Rick was speaking out of guilt and grief more than anything else.

"It should be me in there." The former sheriff stated.

Shane let out a small chuckle at that, something that surprised Amity as she looked over at them. "You've been there, partner, right? And you pulled through. So will he." The man said and Amity realized that there was quite a bit about the time before her arriving at the camp in the Quarry that she didn't know about.

"Is that why I got out of that hospital?" Rick asked his friend. "Found my family for it to end here, like this? Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"You stop it." Shane told him firmly. "Just stop."

"A little girl goes missing... you look for her, it's plain and simple." Rick said.

"Plain and simple." Amity echoed with a nod, catching Rick's gaze until a nearby door opened and they all turned to it, spotting Maggie standing there.

"Rick, he needs blood." She told them and immediately they were all on their feet, following her into the room where Carl had been resting.

The sounds of his pained cries tore through Amity and she knew that it had to be even worse for Rick to hear.

"You, hold him down." Hershel demanded of Shane and immediately the man was moving, his hand ghosting over Amity's shoulder blades as if to tell her to stay put.

"Dad!" Carl called out and Amity turned her eyes to Rick, watching him closely to make sure he wasn't going to do anything stupid in the emotional moment.

"I got him." Shane told Hershel and the man began to dig around in the young boy's chest for what Amity assumed was the bullet fragments he had mentioned.

"Almost there." Hershel reassured the room over Carl's pained screams.

"Stop! You're killing him!" Rick yelled, finally breaking as the screaming became too much for the father to handle.

"Rick, do you want him to live?" Hershel asked calmly. "He needs blood."

"Do it now!" Shane told Patricia, knowing that time was of the essence and without hesitation, the woman stuck the needle into Rick's arm. A few seconds later, the room fell silent and Amity turned to look at the bed with wide eyes, meeting Shane's own panicked gaze for a second.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.

"Wait, hey." Shane said quietly, gaining Hershel's attention.

"He just passed out." The older man reassured them and Amity felt air rush into her lungs in one big gulp.

It was then that Hershel finally pulled a piece of metal from the boy's skin, the sight of the thing that was harming Carl making Amity a bit ill to her stomach.

"One down... five to go." The older man said, dropping the shrapnel into a bowl with a small clink.

* * *

Amity was standing in front of Maggie, her arm held out as the younger woman wiped down the skin with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol.

"Hershel's your daddy then?" Amity wondered and the girl nodded.

"He's a kind man." Amity told her and Maggie replied with a small smile.

"He does what he thinks is right." Maggie said. Amity thought that over, knowing that people like that were few and far between nowadays, but her thoughts were interrupted by Rick's voice.

"Lori needs to be here." He announced. "She doesn't even know what's going on. I gotta go find her, bring her back."

"You can't do that." Hershel said flatly, leaving no room for argument but Rick found it all the same.

"She's his mother! She needs to know what's happened." The man retorted. "Her son's lying here- _shot_."

"And he's going to need more blood." Hershel told him.

"Amity can-"

"Amity _is_ , but that doesn't negate the fact that we need you here as well. I refuse to bleed one of you dry when we can get what we need from you _both_." Hershel snapped back, seeming to lose a bit of his patience. "He can't go more than fifty feet from this bed." He added, looking to Shane as he spoke the last piece.

"Hey, hey." Shane said to his friend, moving forward as Rick rose after Patricia unhooked him from their makeshift blood transfusion system. "Come on."

"I'm all right." Rick protested, moving past his friend. "I'm all right."

"I got him." Shane told everyone in the room before the both of them disappeared from sight.

Silence fell over the room for a moment before Amity cleared her throat, moving to sit in the chair that Rick vacated.

"Take as much as you need." She told the two who looked at her curiously.

"How do you know Rick and Carl? And Shane for that matter?" Hershel asked her, rounding the bed as Patricia prepared another needle before sliding it into Amity's arm, the blood immediately beginning to flow from her.

"I met them both a while back near Atlanta. They had a camp that was being attacked and... well, I heard the attack so I came to help." Amity explained.

"That was very brave." Patricia said, the woman now fussing over the bed in hope of making Carl more comfortable.

"It wasn't, I didn't plan on helping really. It just happened." Amity said, shaking her head a bit and regretting it as she had started to become a bit lightheaded.

"Either way, you didn't owe them anything." Hershel said, watching the redhead more closely as she pressed her lips into a thin line before speaking.

"Y'all didn't owe us anything either, yet here we are in your house and you're taking care of Carl. We can't thank you enough for that." Amity told the older man, her voice full of gratitude.

Hershel slowly nodded once in response, moving to the door now that it seemed Patricia had everything under control as far as her blood transfusion and Amity took that as her hint to be quiet, leaning back against the chair as she settled in and listened to Hershel talking to Shane and Rick.

"He's out of danger for the moment, but I need to remove those remaining fragments." Amity heard Hershel say.

"How?" Rick asked. "You saw how he was."

"I know, and that was the shallowest one. I need to go deeper to get the others." Hershel replied, pausing for a moment before speaking again, "There's more."

"Tell me." Rick requested.

"His belly's distended, his pressure's dropping, which means there's internal bleeding." Hershel explained and Amity let her eyes fall shut for just a moment until Patricia was lightly touching her arm, making her open them and Amity realized that she had frightened the woman who was currently taking her blood. She offered her a reassuring smile to let her know that she was alright.

"A fragment must have nicked one of the blood vessels. I have to open him up, find the bleeder and stitch it." Hershel continued. "And he can't move while I'm in there- I mean at all. If he reacts the same as before I'll sever an artery and he'll be dead in minutes. To even try this I have to put him under, but if I do he won't be able to breathe on his own. Same bad results."

"What'll it take?" Rick asked.

"You need a respirator." Otis cut in then. "What else?"

"The tube that goes with it, extra surgical supplies, drapes, sutures." Hershel listed off.

"If you had all that, you could save him?" Rick questioned.

"If I had all that, I could try." Hershel told him, not being one for false hope it seemed.

"Nearest hospital went up in flames a month ago." Otis said, a small pause following his words before he spoke again. "The high school."

"That's what I was thinkin'." Hershel agreed. "They set up a FEMA shelter there. They would have everything we need."

"Place was overrun last time I saw it. You couldn't get near it..." Otis told the group. "Maybe it's better now."

It was then that Patricia settled down next to Amity and began to unhook her from the tubing and needles, covering the spot that she had been stuck by the needle with a small bandage after wiping it clean.

Amity rose to her feet, the room tilting a bit as she seemed to have done so a bit too fast, but thankfully the blonde woman helped to steady her and lead her towards the doorway.

"I said leave the rest to me." Shane was saying as they approached. "Is it too late to take that back?"

"I hate you going alone." Rick told his friend, sounding torn.

"Come on. Doc, why don't you do me a list, draw me a map." Shane requested.

"You won't need a map, I'll take you there." Otis told the former deputy. "Ain't but five miles."

"Otis, no." Patricia protested from Amity's side.

"Honey, we don't have time for guesswork and I'm responsible. I ain't gonna sit here while this fella takes this on alone." Otis said firmly. "I'll be all right."

"Are you sure about this?" Shane asked the man.

"Do you even know what any of the stuff he's talking about looks like?" Otis questioned in response.

"Come to think, no." Shane admitted.

"I've been a volunteer EMT. I do." Otis said simply. "Now, we can talk about this 'till next Sunday, or we could just go do it real quick."

"I'll take right quick." Shane said, conceding to the man.

"I should thank you." Rick added.

"Wait 'till that boy of yours is up and around, then we'll talk." Otis told him, and it was in that moment that Amity decided the people on this farm just might have been too kind for their own good. How they survived untouched in this world was astounding to her, but then again, perhaps they weren't untouched.

 _Looks can be deceiving._

"Shane, I'll come with the two of you." Amity said suddenly, turning to look at the dark-haired man who simply raised a brow at her.

"Fat chance of that, Am. You just gave blood. The last thing we need is you passing out on us while we're trying to get in and out of there." Shane told her, making a good point but the redhead hated just sitting around.

"I can help." She insisted.

"By staying here in case Carl needs another transfusion." Shane said and Amity pushed a hand through her dirty hair. "I don't need you getting yourself killed and that redneck skinning me alive, okay?"

"Daryl can go f-" Amity began but was cut off by Maggie approaching the trio, her eyes on Rick.

"Where is she- your wife?" The young woman asked.

"They should be heading back up the creek seven miles west of here, heading towards the interstate." Shane answered for his friend.

"Why?" Rick asked her.

"I'll take a horse and go get her. She deserves to know about her son." Maggie replied.

"And your dad is going to be okay with this?" Amity asked and Maggie gave her a look then, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"What my daddy doesn't know ain't gonna hurt him."

With that, the young woman was off and before long, Rick and Amity along with Hershel and Patricia were in the front yard seeing Shane and Otis to the truck they were going to take.

"Watch your ass, okay? This time I'm not going to be there to do it for you." Amity told the dark-haired man, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in for a hug that seemed to catch him a bit off guard. "Keep them elbows tucked it." She added as she pulled back, offering him a teasing smile before stepping back so he could keep moving.

"I'll be back, Red. Don't you worry, I know you won't have no one else to knock skulls with otherwise." Shane teased her, returning her smile with a small one of his own before climbing into the blue Ford.

* * *

The wooden planks of the front porch creaked as Amity and Rick wandered their way across it. Amity was torn between giving the distraught father some time to himself or being there at his side for support, but her decision was made for her when Hershel joined them, making it pointless for her to leave her friend's side.

"This place is beautiful." Amity told the older man, cutting through the silence.

"Been in my family 160 years." Hershel replied, the trio looking out over the farmland as they chatted.

"I can't believe how serene it is. How untouched." Rick added in. "You're lucky."

"We weren't completely unscathed. We lost friends, neighbors." Hershel told him. "The epidemic took my wife, my stepson."

Amity nodded her head, a small frown on her lips. She knew that no one left in this world could have made it through without some kind of loss- some story of suffering.

"I'm sorry." Rick said.

"My daughters were spared. I'm grateful to God for that. These people here, all we've got left is each other." Hershel explained to the pair and Amity thought of their group as he spoke.

All they had in the world was one another. Despite the fact that only a few of them had any blood ties to one another, really only Rick's family unit, they were a group that had become closer to her than Amity ever imagined she could be with anyone outside of her father and brother.

Figures it would take the damn apocalypse in order for her to make friends.

"Just hoping we can ride it out in peace 'til there's a cure." The older man added and a small sigh escaped Amity's lips.

"We were at the CDC." Rick began, starting the story that ended in disappointment in his eyes.

"It's gone now." Amity added flatly.

"It's gone and there is no cure." Rick said and Amity nearly pulled something as she whipped her head to look at him.

"No cure, but potential vaccination." She corrected, but Rick just shook his head at her.

"When AIDS came along, everyone panicked." Hershel said, cutting through their impending argument. "One boy in town came down with it and some parents pulled their children from school so they didn't have to sit in the same room."

"This is a whole other thing." Rick insisted, that at least being something Amity could agree with him on.

"That's what we always say, 'This one's different.'" Hershel responded.

"Well, this one is." Rick said.

"Mankind's been fightin' plagues from the start. We get our behinds kicked for a while, then we bounce back. It's nature correcting herself, restoring some balance." Hershel reasoned out.

"I wish I could believe that." Rick sighed.

"We just have to ride out the wave and work towards figuring this thing out." Amity told the two men. "It might take more than our lifetimes and maybe even the next, but someone will figure this thing out. I have the grounds for them to start."

"You have what?" Hershel asked, looking at Amity with confusion.

"Brain scans- she has nothing but brain scans that even the last doctor in the CDC couldn't make use of." Rick told the man before Amity could, making the redhead fall silent as her eyes dropped to her hands that were clutching the painted railing. The hope that she had been holding for her small bit of research was falling at Rick's dismissive words.

Suddenly, both men next to her leaned forward and the faint but familiar sound of hoofbeats reached Amity's ears. Looking up, she spotted a horse galloping towards them carrying both Maggie and Lori.

Rick was on the move, heading across the yard to meet them but Amity stayed put, leaning on the railing.

"What did you do before this?" Hershel asked her, voice soft as his eyes stayed trained on his daughter.

"I was a clinical neuropsychologist." Amity replied.

"I was a veterinarian." Hershel told her and the woman nearly laughed.

Nothing was funny, but she couldn't decide what else the situation was aside from that.

"Anything is better than nothing." She said simply before pushing off the railing and heading into the yard without another word.

Rick was next in line for another transfusion so Amity kept to herself after initially greeting Lori. She found a seat on the porch and stared out over the farmland, her eyes trained on the furthest tree line she could make out. The woman had decided that it was best to give the parents some space, knowing that they needed one another for support and that Hershel needed the space to work.

It wasn't long before the youngest of Hershel's daughters, Beth, came out to get Amity while saying that her daddy had asked for her.

The redhead quickly made her way inside and to Carl's room, entering just in time to hear Hershel's verdict on the situation.

"Pressure's dropping again. We can't wait much longer." He said.

"Take some more." Rick said, moving to the doctor and holding out his arm. "Whatever he needs and then I'm gonna go."

Amity moved further into the room at his words, pushing past Rick who was already unsteady on his feet and sat down in the usual chair so that she could be hooked up to have more blood drawn by Patricia.

The blonde woman looked at her with concern before sighing to herself and getting to work hooking her up as the couple and Hershel bickered about Rick trying to leave.

Once Lori had succeeded in getting her husband to stay and Patricia had finished drawing all of the blood that she dared from Amity's veins, the ginger woman rose from her seat with the help of both Beth and Patricia- leaning heavily on the two as they led her along to the kitchen and sat her down in one of the chairs.

"Fix her something to eat, would you, Bethy? Some juice too?" Patricia requested and the young blonde nodded, heading to the fridge just as Patricia left the room.

Amity sat in silence and the younger girl moved about the kitchen, trying to focus on making the room stop spinning until a plate with a sandwich and a pickle was placed in front of her, a glass of juice following short after.

"Thank you, Beth." Amity told the girl who smiled and took a seat next to her.

"I know pickles and juice don't really mix, but you can't have a sandwich without a pickle." Beth said, causing Amity to chuckle lightly.

"You're spot on about that." Amity replied, taking a pointed bite of the pickle to pull a small laugh from the girl.

"I can't believe you guys have a fridge." The woman continued after her giggles died down, looking over at the large appliance with a shake of her head.

"We've got a generator that's big enough to keep the house runnin'." Beth explained and Amity nodded, figuring as much the moment that she had spotted a light on in the big house.

The pair settled into a comfortable chatter and Maggie wandered in to join them a few moments later.

The three talked about anything and everything- ranging from unimportant things of the past to just how big the group Amity was with was.

"There's twelve of us- including myself, Carl, and the little girl, Sophia, that I told you about." Amity said, counting names on her fingers really quick in response to Beth's question.

"They're all good people, better people than I thought I would find after everything happened... just like your family." She added, receiving small smiles from both of the other girls.

"Who was Shane talking about before I left? Somethin' about a redneck skinning him alive if you were to go with them?" Maggie asked and Amity lost the fight against an eye roll.

"A member of our group, Daryl." She explained.

"He your boyfriend or something?" Beth asked, looking more interested then than she had been with any of the earlier topics. Teen girls and potential romance- they mixed like water with some more water.

"He isn't. He's just another member of the group that likes to ride my ass about doing things because I'm an _incapable female_." Amity told her with a scoff.

"You sure he doesn't just worry about you?" Maggie asked, a small smirk on her lips then as Amity fought the heat that was threatening to rise to her cheeks for some reason.

"Positive." She stated clearly.

"Yeah, you keep pretendin' that you believe that and I'll keep on pretendin' that I believe you." Maggie told her wryly, before she excused herself and headed towards the front door.

The redheaded woman watch her leave with a bit of incredulity, her blue eyes staying trained on the door in which the young woman disappeared through until Beth tapped her nail against Amity's plate, telling her to continue eating.

Amity finished off her sandwich and Beth kindly took it to the sink while she continued to nurse her juice. The sound of people at the door had her moving to get up, but Beth stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You need to be conserving your strength. Two large transfusions in such a short period is a lot." The girl told her and Amity nodded, settling back into her seat with a sigh, but it wasn't long until both T-Dog and Glenn were joining them which explained the earlier ruckus.

"T, man, you don't look so hot." Amity told her friend as he stumbled in, a sheen of sweat covering his skin.

"Thanks, Amity- that's really kind of you to say." The man responded and she couldn't help but smile, glad to hear a bit of himself still there behind the pain.

"He's got a bad infection." Glenn explained, causing her blue eyes to widen a bit with worry.

"You got here right in time." Patricia said as she entered the room, settling down in the chair on the other side of T-Dog and pulling his arm towards her, looking closely at the now uncovered wound. "This couldn't go untreated much longer."

Gesturing Maggie forward, who had returned with T-Dog and Glenn, the woman directed her to hold down T-Dog's forearm to keep him steady as she began to get to work on patching him up.

"Merle Dixon." Patricia said, reading the name off of one of the pill bottles, which had Amity raising a brow. "Is that your friend with the antibiotics?"

"No, ma'am. Merle's no longer with us." Glenn answered her from his place in the doorway. "Daryl gave us those- his brother."

"Not sure I'd call him a friend." T-Dog added and Amity looked over at him.

"Merle or Daryl?" She asked, curious but also slightly teasing the man in hopes of distracting him a bit from his pain.

"Both are today." Patricia cut in, saving the man from actually having to answer. "This doxycycline might have just saved your life. You know what Merle was taking it for?"

"The clap." Glenn responded a bit too quickly and Amity couldn't help the snort that left her.

Of course it was for that. Amity may not have known the man, but she knew enough.

"Um, venereal disease." Glenn corrected himself, making Amity laugh out loud then. "That's what Daryl said." The young man continued sheepishly.

"I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing to ever happen to you." Patricia told T-Dog who pulled a face.

"I'm really trying not to think about that." The man told her.

"Well, why not, T? You don't want to think about Merle Dixon's sex habits- or about the fact his love of fooling around worked in your favor?" Amity asked with a grin that didn't fit the situation in the slightest.

Glenn moved from the room upon seeing that his friends were settled in and the redhead caught Maggie's eyes following him as he did so- an interesting occurrence to say the least, but she wasn't about to point it out and ruin anything. Not when she wanted to see how it would play out.

If anything was needed in this new world is was a bit of something good happening for at least a couple of them- she could tease both of them about it later.

So once T-Dog was stitched up, Amity kept her mouth shut as Maggie headed for the front door that Glenn went out moments before and instead focused on comforting her injured friend the best she could.

* * *

Amity was still in the kitchen with T-Dog when the sound of a truck outside caught her attention. Ignoring the previous instructions told to her about staying put, Amity rose from her seat without a second thought and rushed out the front door just behind Rick, Lori, and Hershel.

She watched as Shane climbed out of the truck with an obvious limp, his eyes wide and roving- unfocused as he stumbled over to them, specifically to Rick.

"Carl?" He asked.

"There's still a chance." Rick told him and Amity could nearly see the relief sweep through him.

"Otis?" Hershel asked and it was then that Amity realized the other man was no where in sight.

"No." Shane said after a moment of shaking his head, his eyes a bit wild.

"We say nothing to Patricia. Not 'til after." Hershel announced to the group. "I need her."

With that, the older man headed for the house while the rest of them stayed spread across the lawn, Amity crossing to where Rick and Shane stood. After everything that had happened from the moment the rest of the group split from them at the church, the redhead felt more involved in this situation then anyone else outside of Lori.

"They kept blocking us at every turn." Shane told them, his voice shaking and his expression pained. "We had nothing left. We were down to 10 rounds."

"Then he said he'd cover me, and that I should keep going." He continued to explain. "So that's what I did. I just- I kept going. But I-I looked back and he- I _tried_." The man's words broke off and Amity stepped forward, laying a slender hand on his arm to help steady him a bit after Rick had embraced him.

"He wanted to make it right." Rick reminded his friend.

"You got what you went for. You got what was needed to save Carl." Amity added, not being able to hold the man's erratic gaze which concerned her. She had never before met anyone as focused as Shane had always been, but now something wasn't right. He couldn't meet her eyes or seem to hold his attention to just one place for longer than a couple of seconds.

She was worried that the trauma and stress of this world was getting to him, that watching Otis being ripped away after trying to help Carl was the tipping point for his strong resolve. That was what she could only assume was happening to her friend.

"You're okay now." Amity told him, giving his arm a gentle squeeze before pulling him into a tight hug.

* * *

Much later, the group found themselves more together than they had been since the church.

They were spread out over the porch and front yard, Amity choosing to perch on the railing of the porch so that she could keep an eye on everyone from the worried couple on the steps, to T-Dog in one of the rocking chairs, and to Shane who was on the ground in front of the blue Ford.

Her blue eyes wandered between all of them, taking in their expressions and trying to read how they were holding up without prying too much. She didn't want to intrude, but she couldn't leave them needing some comfort and not offering any.

She had to be useful where she could.

The screen door leading to the inside of the house swung open suddenly, breaking Amity out of her analyzing and pulling her attention to Hershel who had finally come outside.

"He seems to have stabilized." The man announced and relief swept over the group like a tsunami as Rick and Lori embraced.

"I don't have words." Lori said, her hands shaking as she covered her mouth.

"I don't either." Hershel countered. "Wish I did... How do I tell Patricia about Otis?" He asked, his eyes mainly on the couple whose boy he just saved.

"You go to Carl." Rick said after only a moment's pause, looking to his wife. "I'll go with Hershel."

As the trio moved to do what they needed to, Amity hopped off the railing as well and went to settle down beside Glenn, leaning against the younger man's shoulder for a moment as she fought her exhaustion and sought out a bit of comfort.

Her friend leaned heavily against her in return, both of them giving and taking the reassurance that the other provided.

"Are we out of the woods yet?" She asked him and Glenn looked down at her with confusion.

"It's an expression... never mind." Amity said with a heavy sigh though a small smile pulled at her lips.

Carl was stable, T-Dog was recovering, the rest of them were going to be there soon, and once they found Sophia- all would be as okay as it could be.

They were dancing on the tree line.


	8. Chapter 8

The Georgia heat was nothing if not relentless even as the majority of the group stood underneath a few trees, gathering rocks into a wheelbarrow. Amity had just tossed another stone into the metal container, hearing it land with a resounding ring that was cut off by the few rocks that followed it from the hands of those around her.

It was then that the sound of a familiar engine in the distance had her whipping around, squinting against the sun to see a familiar caravan of vehicles coming down the dirt driveway with a motorcycle leading them.

The sight had her heart leaping in her chest as she moved forward and into the sunshine, not wasting any time as she sprinted back towards the house just as they came to a stop.

"Amity, you shouldn't be running around like that." Hershel scolded as he came down the steps and it seemed that his scolding wasn't misplaced as Amity put a hand to her head, stopping in her tracks as the farm began spinning around her.

She was steadied by a tentative hands resting on her shoulders, holding her still as she closed her eyes and willed herself not to topple over or get sick right then and there.

"What the hell they do to ya, girl?" A familiar voice asked, heavy with a Southern accent that reminded her of her family.

"She gave blood twice today along with Rick- neither of them should be up moving, let alone out in this heat." Maggie answered for her and Daryl threw the woman a cross between a glare and a curious look, obviously not trusting the newer people around him.

"I'm fine." Amity cut in and Daryl scoffed at that.

"Bullshit." He told her flatly.

"You're such a dick."

"Don't change the fact that you'd be fallin' on yer ass if I didn't grab ya."

"Dick." Amity said once more.

"How is he?" Dale asked Rick, cutting through the pair's bickering that the rest of the group had been watching with amusement.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori told the man, soothing most of the newcomers to the farm's worries.

"And Shane." Rick added on. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him."

At that Amity sent a smile over her shoulder towards Shane but found him shifting uncomfortably in his spot, his eyes focused on the ground. Her smile soon fell into a small frown and as she looked back towards the rest of the group, she realized that Daryl was quietly watching her, his eyes flickering to Shane for a split second.

"Thank God." Carol breathed out, moving to hug Lori and pulling both Daryl and Amity's attention towards them. "We were so worried."

"How'd it happen?" Dale asked.

"Hunting accident." Amity answered, shaking her head a bit.

"That's all- just a stupid accident." Rick confirmed.

* * *

"Blessed be God, father of our lord Jesus Christ." Hershel began once they were all gathered around the grave they had dug for Otis, Beth stepping forward to place one of the stones onto the stack they had piled up. "Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in Grace."

As he spoke, Amity's eyes scanned those around her. She took a moment to read the expressions of her newer and older friends, her eyes lingering on Shane who seemed to be just as unstable as he had been when he first arrived at the farm.

His shaved head was an indicator to Amity that perhaps he was toppling over that edge- drastic decisions like that often being a marker for such a spiral.

There was a pause as Hershel concluded his small sermon, his eyes turning to Shane then as well.

"Shane, will you speak for Otis?" He asked the man.

"I'm not good at it." Shane excused himself, looking uncomfortable under all of their gazes. "I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments." Patricia insisted, her voice breaking with a grief that Amity couldn't imagine. "Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."

There was another short moment of silence but then Shane was nodding. "Okay."

"We were about done." The man began. "Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy.' See, that's what he said." Shane told them and Amity found herself disassociating from the story, looking at her friend through slightly narrowed eyes.

"He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.'"

Amity watched his eyes, watched the tremor in his lips, and the way the story fell from them in a way that was almost too perfect. Almost too rehearsed. She heard emotion, she saw it behind his expression, but it wasn't the emotion that she had expected.

"And when I looked back..." Shane trailed off, limping forward to grab a stone from the wheelbarrow and placing it on the pile.

"If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive." He said, and Amity sensed truth in that. The first bit of truth that she had gotten from his story. "And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both."

The former deputy turned, looking at Patricia.

"If any death ever had meaning, it was his."

That, Amity didn't doubt for a second, but Shane- she found that she was doubting Shane- and though she couldn't place her finger on why she was, she knew that her instincts rarely lead her astray on such things.

Something wasn't right, but as she moved forward to go over to her friend she felt a rough hand wrap around her wrist. Looking over her shoulder, her eyes met a pair of Georgia blues just before the man was shaking his head at her.

Her brows furrowed and she went to question him, but a slender hand was placed on her shoulder and she looked over to see Carol now at her side as well. Amity couldn't help but wrap her arms around the older woman with tears pricking in her eyes, pulling her into an embrace though Amity's gaze stayed trained on Daryl from over her shoulder.

The man watched the two women for a moment longer before turning on his heel and heading back towards where their cars were left.

* * *

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked as a few members of the group gathered around the hood of one of the vehicles.

Amity leaned heavily against the hot metal, resting between Shane and Daryl as she listened quietly to the men around her speaking.

"This'll be day three." Rick told the man just as Maggie came over and laid out a large map across the hood.

"County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations." She announced and Amity offered the young woman a bright smile- the best that she could muster with how tired she was.

"This is perfect." Rick said, leaning forward to look over the map. "We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams."

"Not you." Hershel said before shooting a look at Amity as well. "Not you either. Not today. Rick, you gave three units of blood and Amity, you gave two. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." He told them both, causing a heavy sigh to escape the redhead's lips.

"And your ankle-" Hershel began, looking over at Shane at that point. "Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."

"Guess it's just me." Daryl said, not sounding too bothered by that fact.

"I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there." He told the group.

"I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back." Shane offered and Amity weighed her options between going with Shane or thinking up something else that she could do.

"If you'd lend me a horse, then I can search that way." Amity suggested.

"You ride?" Maggie asked and Amity nodded, smiling over at her.

"Since I was about four actually. I showed in my teenage years as well." She explained.

"I still don't think that's too safe, Am." Shane cut in and Rick nodded in agreement.

"Why don't you ride out with Shane tomorrow?" Rick suggested and Amity couldn't help but hesitate at that. It wasn't that she was scared of Shane per say- there was no reason for her to be- but something was off with him since he got back from the run to the high school and she wasn't too sure she wanted to be in close quarters with it.

"Yeah... I can do that." She said finally, noticing Daryl shift on the other side of her while Shane offered her a small nod.

"Alright, tomorrow then." Rick cut in. "We'll start doing this right."

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane said, wanting to put that issue on the table- or hood- to be discussed.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property." Hershel told the two men. "We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."

"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here-" Shane began, but Rick interjected before he could finish the thought.

"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we _will_ respect that." Rick told the older man, looking more at his people than Hershel before laying his gun on the hood of the truck, Shane following suit soon after.

"First thing, first. Set camp, find Sophia." Rick said then, getting back on topic.

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to." Shane began and Amity turned a bit to look at the man, ready for his usual realist point of view on the situation. "What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."

It was something that Amity didn't even want to consider, but she knew that they had to. They had to be prepared for all options, though she wasn't sure she would be able to put the sweet little girl down if she was... even if she knew it was for the best.

"You do what has to be done." Rick told them all.

"And her mother? What do you tell her?" Maggie asked, sounding a bit horrified at the thought.

"The truth." Andrea replied, her tone short.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site." Shane continued on with another issue. "I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience."

Hershel hesitated, obviously uncomfortable with the idea, but Amity couldn't find it in her to see his point of view on the matter. Not when her people were sleeping outside in tents exposed to whatever wandered up.

"Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Rick insisted and finally the older man nodded.

"Thank you." Amity spoke up, nodding towards the farmer and his daughter.

"That stuff you brought- got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that? We're running short already." Maggie asked as the group began to disperse, Amity leaving someone else to answer the girl's question as she dug her bag out of the RV, thrilled to see her things once more.

It was only then that she realized people were setting up tents around her and she had yet to find one of her own- having chosen to mainly sleep in the cars while they were on the road.

Pursing her lips, she watched Glenn and Carol as they set up their tents, the toe of her hiking boot scuffing the ground as she considered her options. She figured she could share with Glenn like she had when she first arrived in the camp in the quarry, or she could see if Shane would let her bunk with him. She doubted that Daryl would welcome a tent mate and she didn't want to intrude on Carol with everything she was dealing with.

It seemed that it was either Glenn or Shane.

She decided on the lesser of the two evils for now, moving towards the younger Korean man, but as she did so a familiar broad figure stepped out in front of her and she noticed Maggie moving towards Glenn as well.

"You realizing that you're homeless only now?" Shane asked, being the one that stepped in front of her.

"Yeah, you know me, not the quickest on the uptake." Amity replied, trying to keep her voice as light-hearted as it usually would be.

"So it seems."

"I appreciate the agreement."

"Listen, if you're needing a place to sleep then you can always share with me. There's plenty of room- you'll have your space and I'll have mine." Shane offered and Amity simply looked at him for a moment, blue eyes scanning his face before she nodded a bit reluctantly.

"Thanks, I appreciate that." Amity told him and he gave her a nod in return before leading the way to where his tent bundle was set out on the ground.

The pair made quick work of getting the tent up and functional- leaving Shane to wander back towards the RV as Amity grabbed her bag and went to toss it to the right corner of the tent.

"What are ya doin'?" Daryl's voice sounded from behind her, making her jump slightly and a small smirk to play over his lips after she had done so.

"Do you _have_ to sneak up on me like that?" She asked, her voice a bit breathless as she held a hand to her chest.

"I wasn't sneakin', yer just jumpy." Daryl insisted, before one of his brows raised at her to return her thoughts to his original question.

"I'm tossing my stuff into the tent." She told him, confused by his question.

"That's Shane's tent." He said simply.

"I know. He offered to let me stay with him because I still haven't got my hands on a tent for myself." Amity explained, shrugging her shoulders lightly as a beat of silence passed between them.

"Ya could have stayed with me." Daryl said suddenly after Amity had decided he wasn't going to say anything else and turned to continue what she had been doing.

Turning back around, Amity looked at the man with a bit of shock but his eyes were trained on the tree line in the distance instead of her.

"Well... I figured you wouldn't want to share. Not with me." She said slowly, treading carefully in the conversation.

"Ya ain't that bad." Daryl told her with a shrug and Amity figured that was the closest she would get to the man admitting that they were friends, so she'd take it.

"I'd actually- I'd rather bunk with you... if that's okay?" She said hesitantly.

"Just said it was, didn't I?" Daryl replied shortly, moving forward to grab one of her bags and headed towards his tent without another word or a glance over his shoulder.

"What... what just happened?" Amity asked herself, staring at the redneck's retreating figure before shaking her head and shouldering her other bag, moving to follow after him.

* * *

Not much later, Amity found herself sitting on the steps leading up to the house with Rick at her side. Both of them were quiet for a long while before Rick spoke up, breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry about what I said... about the brain thing." He told her, turning to look at the redhead and finding that she had already turned her blue eyes his way. "I also am realizing that I never thanked you for what you did for Carl- the running ahead and giving all that blood."

"You don't have to thank me for that." Amity told him, shaking her head a bit.

"I do." Rick insisted. "You didn't have to do that for us- risk your own health for my boy, but you did and I won't forget that."

"It's what friends do, Rick." Amity said, offering him a tired smile. "It's what this group does. We look out for each other- like you keeping us all together or Dale keeping watch all the time or Glenn making runs. We all contribute and we're all there for one another."

Rick was quiet for a minute after she finished, nodding his head once before suddenly looking over her head at something and rising to his feet.

"Daryl." He called out, moving towards the other man who was striding across the yard. "You okay on your own?"

"I'm better on my own." Daryl said simply, not pausing. "I'll be back before dark."

"Hey." Rick called out again, this time bringing the man to a stop to look at him with impatience, his blue eyes glancing briefly at Amity who had come up beside Rick at that point.

"We got a base." Rick told him. "We can get this search properly organized now."

"Ya got a point or are we just chatting?" Daryl asked, obviously not appreciating being delayed.

"My point is it lets you off the hook." Rick told him and Amity looked at the former sheriff with a bit of disbelief. "You don't owe us anything." He added.

"My other plans fell through." Daryl told him flatly before heading off towards the woods without a glance over his shoulder at the pair.

"You know that's not who he is... don't you?" Amity asked Rick, her voice quiet.

Rick looked over at her, narrowing his eyes a bit as he considered her words.

"I don't think anyone knows who he is." He said after a moment before the pair turned at the sound of someone descending the stairs they had vacated moments before.

Seeing that it was Hershel, Amity decided to make her leave and let the two leaders of the individual groups on the farm talk alone. Bidding Rick a quick farewell, she turned and headed back towards their small camp site and came across Glenn first, who was preparing for the run he was going on with Maggie- an event she had learned about from Rick earlier.

"I heard you're going to ride a horse, Glenny, and I've got to say that I would pay to see that." Amity said as she approached the younger man, earning an unamused look from him.

"Why can't we take a car like _normal_ people?" Glenn asked, a bit of a whine in his voice that had the redhead laughing.

"You'll be fine, Glenn. Just grip with your legs and hold on tight, your horse should just follow her's along. Be careful on the dismount though, your legs will be weaker than you expect. You'd hate to fall flat on your ass in front of a pretty girl." Amity advised, patting him on the shoulder with a smirk as she continued on past him.

Ducking into the tent that she decided to share with Daryl, Amity grabbed her notebook that held her research before leaving the tent to take advantage of the sunlight while she worked.

"Hey, Am- I thought you were going to share with me." Shane called out as she passed, apparently having realized that her stuff was not in his tent like she expected.

"Oh... well, uh, Daryl actually said that I could stay with him and I thought that I'd do that instead. Give you your space and I think he should have someone around, you know?" Amity explained, folding her arms over the notebook in her hands as she pressed it against her chest.

She noticed a small smirk forming on Shane's face and narrowed her eyes at the man.

"What?" She asked and he shook his head, holding up his hands in a small show of surrender.

"Nothing, nothing- I didn't say nothing." Shane told her and Amity rolled her eyes in response.

She was about to move on once more, but was stopped by the sight of Dale and T-Dog jogging towards them.

"What's up?" She called out to them and T-Dog just shook his head.

"You're gonna wanna see this." He said.

After begrudgingly returning her notebook to her tent, Amity joined a majority of her group around one of the wells on the property, looking down inside it to see a bloated walker looking up at them with hunger-driven groans and hisses leaving its decaying gob.

"Looks like we've got us a swimmer." Dale said, shining his flashlight down into the dark well, illuminating the grotesque face of the water-logged undead.

"How long you think it has been down there?" Glenn asked.

"Long enough to grow gills." Andrea said, making a face.

"We can't leave it in there. God knows what it's doing to the water." Lori pointed out and Amity nodded in agreement.

"We got to get it out." Shane agreed.

"Easy. Put a bullet in its head, I'll get a rope." T-Dog said, moving to walk away from the well.

"Whoa, _whoa_ , guys." Maggie cut in. "No."

"Why not? It's a good plan." Glenn said, confused by her hesitance.

"It's a stupid plan. If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, blowing its brains out will finish the job." Andrea explained.

"She's right. Can't risk it." Shane said, looking into the well as if trying to solve the problem in his head then and there.

"I would say it has already contaminated the water- I wouldn't risk drinking it... but I guess it's better to do the job as clean as possible." Amity said, offering in her two cents.

"So it has to come out alive?" T-Dog asked.

"So to speak." Shane told him.

"How do we do that?" Glenn wondered and they all exchanged looks, no one having an idea.

"Maybe we can try to bait it?" Amity suggested and everyone looked at the walker before looking at one another once more.

They decided on breaking out a canned ham for the occasion, tying a rope around it and dipping it into the well with the hopes that the thing would go for it and they could lasso it and then haul it up.

"He's not going for it." Dale said, looking into the well.

It seemed that luck wasn't on their side.

"Maybe 'cause a canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it." T-Dog said.

"He's right. There's a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards." Lori agreed.

"We need live bait." Andrea added, saying what they were all thinking.

It was then that the group turned as a unit, all eyes turning to their resident go-to-town guy who looked back at them with a bit of fear.

"Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut?" Glenn was saying, rambling on as Shane got him tied up to be lowered into the well. "You have a nice shaped head."

"Don't worry about it, bud." Shane told him, trying to reassure the younger man. "We're gonna get you out of here in one piece."

" _Living_ piece." Glenn corrected him. "That living part is important."

"Nice and slow, please." The young man requested as they set up to lower him down, the rope he was attached to looping around the nearby water spout for leverage.

"We got you." Amity assured him, picking up the rope along with the rest.

"Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie said, sounding distressed about the situation and from the outside looking in, Amity could see that it looked insane.

"You want to get it out of your well or not?" Shane asked her, unbothered.

"Give us an eye there, Maggie." Dale requested and the farmer's daughter moved to the well, leaning over it to watch Glenn's descent inside.

"Doing okay?" The woman called down.

"Yup, doing great." Amity heard Glenn respond and nearly laughed.

"Little lower." Maggie told them. "Little more."

As they lowered the rope bit by bit, a small sound reached Amity's ears and a moment too late she realized that it was the sound of the water spicket wrenching itself from the ground.

The thing finally popped free, flying towards the well as Glenn fell further down than he needed to be- his yells of terror piercing the air as they all scrambled for the spout until T-Dog finally grabbed it and they all started hauling him back up.

"Guys, get me out! Come on, you guys!" Glenn yelled from inside the well.

"Pull!" Shane yelled at them and Amity dug her heels into the dirt, pushing with all her strength against the ground until finally they were making a bit of progress.

"Let's go! Pull!" She yelled through clenched teeth.

They kept pulling, straining against the deadweight of the man until finally his hands appeared and grabbed the top bar over the well and he hauled himself out, all but sprinting away from the edge and falling to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Amity asked, falling to her knees next to him along with Lori, the brunette rubbing comforting circles across his back.

"Back to the drawing board." Dale said with a sigh after the initial panic had passed.

"Says you." Glenn cut in, sounding proud of himself as he stood and handed the rope to the older man before walking away.

Amity and the rest of the group followed the rope to the edge, looking down and seeing that somehow Glenn had managed to get the rope around the walker in his panic.

"Well, shit." Amity said, a small laugh escaping her as she fell back into the dirt on her butt, her head spinning a bit as she had overexerted herself in the small panic of pulling Glenn out.

"Amity, hun, are you okay?" Lori asked her, settling down beside the redhead who had fallen. She looked at her with worry, her hand going to her forehead in such a mom way that Amity couldn't help but laugh again.

"'m okay- just got a bit dizzy, s'all." Amity told her, her polished words slipping a bit into the backwoods accent she had grown up with as she held a hand to her head.

"She needs to go inside and get some food in her, maybe take a nap. She's going to end up hurting herself after all the blood she gave." Maggie said, kneeling down with the other two women then.

"Amity, when's the last time you slept?" Shane asked and Amity looked up at him from her place on the ground, squinting a bit at the man as she did so.

"Uh..." She responded lamely, not really having a suitable answer for the question.

"That's what I thought. Go on, get- we'll handle the walker. You're no good to us hurt or dead on your feet." He told her and for once, Amity was too worn out to argue.

With help from both Maggie and Lori, Amity climbed to her feet, steadying herself for a moment before slowly making her way towards the tent that she was staying in. She had barely managed to get inside and onto her sleeping bag when her eyes fell closed and sleep hit her like a truck.

When she woke, she was met with the feeling of someone else being near her and shot up like she had been jabbed with a hot poker, her hand on her machete.

"Whoa, girl- _jesus_!" A familiar voice snapped and wide blue eyes took in the sight of Daryl who was just coming into the tent it seemed.

Amity let out a breath in a rush, letting herself fall back onto her sleeping bag now that the adrenaline was leaving her system.

"You always sneak!" She told him and was surprised when she heard a small chuckle in response.

"Heard what happened at the well earlier. They had to close the thing up because the damned geek split 'plum in half and fell back in." Daryl informed her and Amity couldn't help but let out a small snort.

"Ya shouldn't've been out there helping. Doc said ya needed to rest." He added and Amity glared at him, but he ignored her, grabbing a glass bottle from his bag instead and sticking a flower in the top of it.

"You gardening now?" Amity asked and it was Daryl's turn to glare over at her.

"Then what's it for?" She asked, sensing that the man wasn't going to dignify her teasing with a response.

"Carol." He said simply and Amity paused, not sure why his answer put an uncomfortable feeling in her chest, but she pushed past it.

"That's- uh, nice of you." She said and the man snorted softly.

"You know what kinda flower this is?" He asked her, looking her way as he sat back on his heels, the flower resting in the bottle between his hands as his elbows rested lightly on his thighs.

"It's a Cherokee rose." He explained once Amity had shook her head. "There's a story behind it. It was said that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land onto the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation and whatever else." Daryl began, blue eyes meeting blue as Amity sat forward, pulled in by his voice and the story he was telling her.

"So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell." He finished and a small sad smile found its way onto Amity's lips. "I thought I'd give this one to Carol. I think it was out there for Sophia... I thought it could give her a bit of hope."

"I think she would really appreciate that, Daryl." Amity said softly, holding the man's gaze for a moment longer until he broke it, nodding and moving to leave the tent in a bit of a rush.

Amity watched him leave with a certain fondness in her expression, amazed by the bit of softness that the usually rough man had shared with her. It was another side of the Dixon man that she had never expected, but one that made him that much more _him_.

He never ceased to leave her guessing, that was for sure.

* * *

The next morning, Amity was one of the first ones up after Daryl accidentally kicked her in the shin, a pained whimper escaping her as she peeked an eye open sleepily and caught the tail end of him cursing and muttering as he left the tent in a bit of a rush.

She didn't know what had fire under his ass, but she was definitely awake.

Quickly tugging on a fresher pair of jeans and a dark tank top, Amity emerged from the tent to see Carol was up as well and already had gotten a head start on the group's laundry.

"Here, let me help!" Amity called out softly as she approached, taking a basket from beside the woman and moving to rinse the suds out of them the best that she could before setting them aside in another basket Carol had so that they could later be hung up to dry.

Just as the two finished rinsing the clothes and got a start on hanging them up, Lori wandered over to join them.

"Morning!" Amity greeted her with a smile, before turning back to the task at hand, her tongue pressed between her lips as she willed the clothespins to work with her and not drop the freshly washed laundry into the dirt.

"Morning." Lori replied, stretching a bit before she began to grab an article of clothing. "I can't believe I slept in."

"You must have needed it." Carol told her kindly. "Feeling alright?"

"Next time wake me, alright?" Lori said in response, not answering the woman's question. "Especially on laundry day."

"We managed." Amity chimed in, hanging up one of Glenn's shirts.

"I had an idea I wanted to run by you both." Carol told the two.

"What's that?" Lori asked her.

"That big kitchen of theirs got me thinking... I wouldn't mind cooking in a real kitchen again." Carol began. "Maybe we all pitch in and cook dinner for Hershel and his family tonight." She suggested and Lori and Amity exchanged a look.

"Kind of looking for things to keep my mind occupied." Carol admitted.

"After everything they've done for us, seems like the least we could do." Amity reasoned, giving Carol a kind smile.

"Lori, do you mind extending the invitation?" Carol asked the brunette after returning Amity's smile. "Would just feel more right coming from you."

"How so?" Lori asked, but Amity thought it was obvious.

"You're Rick's wife." Carol told her.

"It sort of makes you our unofficial first lady." Amity added.

"Morning, guys." A deep voice sounded from the side of the camp.

 _Speak of the devil and he shall arrive._

"Let's get going." Rick added as he passed. "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Amity immediately followed the man, joining the small group he had tailing him and snatching up her bow that she had laid to the side. Amity settled in next to Andrea, leaning her elbows on the hood of the vehicle the group gathered around with the map Maggie gave them spread out on the hood, and lightly hip-checked the woman next to her to gain her attention.

"You doing alright?" She asked the blonde, getting a confused look in response.

"I just haven't had the chance to talk to you for a while- wanted to check in." Amity explained herself and Andrea nodded after a moment's hesitation.

"Doing as good as I can." She said.

"That's the best anyone can do." Amity told her with a nod.

"All right, everyone's getting new search grids today." Rick announced to the group, cutting the two women's conversation short. "If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."

"I'd like to help." A voice sounded from behind them, causing Amity to turn and spot the younger boy with Hershel's people, Jimmy. She knew he was Beth's boyfriend from the night her and the younger girl had talked in the kitchen.

"I know the area pretty well and stuff." Jimmy added, trying to build up his rapport a bit it seemed.

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked.

"Yeah yeah- he said I should ask you." Jimmy said and Amity heard his lie clear as day but kept it to herself. It was the boy's own hole to dig and she was more focused on Daryl in that moment, taking in the scars that ran across his chest. They were exposed under his wife beater as he tugged on an over shirt, but she soon averted her eyes- not wanting to be caught staring.

"All right then." Rick agreed to him joining. "Thanks."

"Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me." Shane cut in then, Amity's eyes shooting to him as she raised a brow. "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse."

 _When did he start acting like such a dick? Scratch that- when had he started acting like such a dick about doing something to help the group?_

"Anybody includes her, right?" Amity asked, her voice holding more of an edge than usual.

"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high." Daryl added, holding out an arm just above his waist to demonstrate.

It was then that Amity realized Daryl was wearing a shirt with _sleeves_ of all things and couldn't help but be shocked. She doubted he _owned_ a shirt with sleeves at that point.

"It's a good lead." Andrea said.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick added.

"No maybe about it. I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid." Daryl told them, drawing a line with his finger to show his path. "If she's up there, I'll spot her."

"Good idea." T-Dog said. "Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too." He teased.

"Chupacabra?" Rick asked and Amity couldn't help but raise a brow in question as well.

"You never heard this? Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." Dale explained and Amity had to suppress a laugh, but Jimmy, the poor boy didn't know any better and chuckled.

"What are ya braying at, jackass?" Daryl asked harshly.

"You believe in a blood-sucking dog?" Jimmy responded, still sounding amused.

"Do ya believe dead people walking around?" Daryl snapped back and Amity had to give that one to him.

Not seeming to have a response, Jimmy reached for one of the rifles that had been laid out on the hood of the car by Dale.

"Hey hey." Rick said, moving to stop him from taking one. "Ever fire one before?"

"Well, if I'm going out, I want one." Jimmy retorted.

"Yeah, and people in hell want slurpees." Daryl told him before taking off towards the stables.

"You just had to go and rile him up." Amity said, teasing Jimmy and tossing a smile over her shoulder at the younger boy as she went off to follow her tent mate.

"Oh, Rick- I'm going to ask Maggie for a horse as well. I'll take the woods just to the west of the farmhouse Daryl found in case she backtracked." She added, turning to walk backwards as she still headed away from them, waiting until she got a confirming word from Rick before turning on her heels and picking up her pace a bit.

As she headed towards the stable, she caught a glimpse of brown hair and called out to the younger woman who was heading towards her house.

"Maggie!"

Maggie stopped in her tracks, turning to search for who called out for her and smiled upon spotting Amity.

"You mind if I borrow a horse today? I don't want to get winded too fast out there." The redhead explained and Maggie nodded.

"Go for it, the tack is in the first room on the right. I trust you know everything there is to know about it?" Maggie said with a teasing smile.

"You ain't the only farm girl, Greene." Amity told her, knowing she caught the woman off-guard so with a grin she kept on her way to the stables.

Entering through the open wooden doorway, right away Amity spotted Daryl tacking up one of the horses.

"Didn't take you for a cowboy, Dixon." She told him, moving past him to walk down the row of stalls, pausing in front of the one that held a bay gelding.

"I ain't, but I can ride a damn horse."

"Hey there, sweetheart." Amity said suddenly, causing Daryl to whip around with a confused look on his face until he spotted that she was talking to the horse.

"You up for a ride today, boy?" She asked the gelding, loving the way he nuzzled fuzzy lips against her palm in response.

She quickly read the name off the stall door and grabbed the halter that hung beside it as well.

"Hey, Jax. Hey, sweet boy." She cooed softly, easily slipping the halter over his head before opening the stall and leading him into the wash rack to clip him into the cross ties so that she could saddle him more easily.

"You be careful up on that ridge, Dixon. I'd hate to have the tent all to myself at this point- I mean, I was _just_ getting used to your snoring." Amity told the man, finally acknowledging the other person in the stables once more, looking up to find his eyes already on her.

"I don't snore." Daryl told her flatly and Amity just scoffed in response.

A moment of comfortable silence fell between them as Amity quickly brushed Jax, hunting down a saddle blanket and saddle and tossing it on to his back when she had finished. She scooted it up enough to make sure it sat comfortably before grabbing a girth and cinching it up around his middle.

"Are ya going out there alone?" Daryl asked from the entrance to the stable, his eyes now focused on the saddle in front of him instead of her when she glanced his way.

"That's the plan. No one else seems willing to ride and they won't be able to keep up on foot." Amity said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Ya ask Maggie?" He wondered.

"No, she has her own things to worry about. It's not a big deal." Amity reasoned, now grabbing a bridle from the wall, checking the bit to make sure it wasn't too harsh and hooking it over her shoulder as she went to go back to Jax but a hand closing around her wrist stopped her.

This seemed to be becoming a habit.

"Watch yerself out there." Daryl said, his voice low as they stood nearly chest to chest, blue eyes on one another.

"I can handle myself, you know I can." Amity told him, her voice softer than usual as well.

Being this close to Daryl felt terrifying in a way, but it wasn't that she was _scared_. It just had her heart pounding in her chest, heat rushing to her face as her hands trembled lightly. It was an adrenaline rush from a different kind of fear.

"I know you can." He confirmed, his eyes flickering downwards for just a second before his skin left her's and he was getting on the horse he chose, and without a second glance towards her, he was off.

Amity watched him leave for a long moment, only being broken out of her thoughts by the soft nicker coming from behind her.

"Sorry, boy. Didn't mean to ignore you." Amity said, turning to head back over to Jax and finished tacking him up.

Once bridled, Amity wasted no time leading the gelding to the side of the barn and mounting him, tapping his sides with her heels to get him moving off towards the woods.

* * *

Daryl had been riding for a couple of hours at that point, his eyes scanning the landscape around him as he went, trying to push all thoughts out of his head that didn't have to do with finding the little girl.

He had made his own promise to Carol, perhaps not as outright as Amity's had been, but it was a promise all the same and he knew that giving up on finding Sophia was not an option.

To him it never had been.

Tugging the horse he was riding to a halt, Daryl narrowed his eyes as he looked down the ridge a ways, spotting a familiar looking doll in the water of the creek that laid in the ravine.

It didn't take him long to dismount and pick up the cloth thing, looking it over before deciding that it was definitely Sophia's and tucking it into his belt.

"Sophia!" He yelled out, hoping that the little girl was still nearby. He paused, waiting a few long moments before returning to his horse once there was no response.

He climbed on his steed with ease, throwing a leg over the mare's back and lightly kicking her into motion.

A flock of birds flying from the bushes put both him and the horse on edge, but he made quick work of soothing her and continuing on. There was no time to waste.

Rounding a bend at the top of the ridge, Daryl's eyes stayed on the trees around him instead of the forest floor and that was his first mistake as a startled snake shot off the trail and into the bushes, spooking his horse and sending him tumbling over the ridge.

With a sharp smack, Daryl hit the top edge of the ridge. He rolled down the cliff ass over feet, trees pulling at him and roots bruising him until a sharp pain stabbed through his side and suddenly water splashed in his face as he came to a stop with another hard smack.

A groan escaped the man as his hands found his side, feeling the sharp pain of an injury and realizing that he had ran himself through with one of his own damned bolts.

" _Son of a bitch._ "

* * *

The woods were quiet and it served to unsettle Amity.

Anyone who grew up around the forest knew that when the trees were silent- that meant trouble.

The redhead listened for the warning calls of birds, but heard nothing. Leaning forward, she ran a hand down the slightly damp neck of her steed, her blue eyes scanning the woods around them.

"It's okay, Jax. We're okay." She soothed the horse, her words serving more to calm her than him in the end.

She pressed them on, not wanting to let her own paranoia stop her from covering as much ground as she could as she searched for Sophia. With a gentle tap of her heels, both horse and rider continued through the forest for another good hour or so.

It wasn't until the sharp crack of a limb sounded nearby that Amity pulled Jax to a stop once more.

"Easy, boy." She said, voice low as she watched the woods around her, ears straining for another hint as to what would come.

A few moments later a low moan sounded from nearby, relieving and terrifying Amity all at once. They weren't be stalked by a stranger, but they did have a walker to deal with.

"Shit." She cursed, trying to decide what to do.

If she took Jax and pressed him on then she could easily out distance the walker, but she knew leaving it behind could spell out trouble for any other member of the group later on and she wasn't willing to take that chance.

Dismounting, Amity pulled her bow from where it hung around the saddle and double checked to make sure her machete was on her belt. Quickly she tied Jax to a tree, using a quick-release knot just in case she had to make a fast get away, then headed towards the source of the noise with her bow drawn back, and an arrow nocked in place.

Making her way into a small clearing that she hadn't noticed when passing, Amity froze at the sight of five walkers wandering across it towards her and eventually Jax.

"Shit." She said again, this time with a bit more feeling as she saw what she was up against.

* * *

"You've done half." Daryl told himself, having drug himself halfway up the steep embankment that he had fallen down in hopes of being able to get back to the farm. "Stop being such a pussy."

He had already fished his crossbow out of the large pond under the small waterfall in the area he was stuck in, all he needed now was to get up and out of the damn place.

He held on tightly to one of the saplings that grew in the hillside, the small tree clinging onto the rock for dear life just as Daryl was clinging onto it.

He readjusted himself, trying to get his weak side and arm to cooperate with him, but suddenly he was sliding. He grasped for anything to catch himself, but it was no use and he tumbled back down the slope, landing almost exactly where he had before.

Dazed, he blinked his eyes a couple of times, trying to regain his bearings and slowly the world around him came back into a bit of focus.

"Why don't ya pull that arrow out, dummy?" A familiar voice asked. "Ya could bind yer wound better."

"Merle." Daryl said, quickly recognizing the voice of his older brother and soon focused in on the man's face.

"What's going on here?" Merle asked, leaning over him. "Ya taking a siesta or somethin'?"

"A shitty day, bro."

"Like me to get ya yer pillow? Maybe rub yer feet?"

"Screw you."

"You're the one screwed from the looks of it." Merle told him, disdain clear in his voice. "All them years I spent trying to make a man of ya- this is what I get? Look at ya, lyin' in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, brother. And for what?"

"A girl." Daryl told him. "They lost a little girl."

"So ya got a thing for little girls now?"

"Shut up." Daryl spat.

"'Cause I noticed ya ain't out looking for old Merle no more." Merle said, his voice taking on an edge then.

"Tried like hell to find ya, bro." Daryl defended.

"Like hell ya did."

"Ya split, man. Lit out first chance ya got." Daryl told him. "Ya lit out. All ya had to do was wait. We went back for ya." He tried to convince him, knowing that he did what he could and trying to keep his thoughts that way. "Rick and I- we did right by ya."

"This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand? This him we're talking about here?" Merle asked, anger still plain in his tone. "Ya his bitch now?"

"I ain't nobody's bitch."

"Oh wait, I forgot- you're that firecrotch's bitch now, right?"

"The hell ya on about?"

"Ya always fall for the ones _outta yer league_ , baby brother. Ya think that _doctor_ is gonna go for ya of all people? With good ole boys like Deputy Do-Good and Officer Friendly around?" Merle sneered. "Yer a joke is what ya are, playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses and democrats."

Merle leaned close to Daryl then. "Yer nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all ya are." The older man growled. "They're laughing at ya behind yer back and yer girl is getting busy with the boys in blue. Ya know that, don't ya? I got a little news for ya, son. One day they gonna scrape ya off their heels like ya was dog shit."

With that, Daryl turned from his brother, what he said digging into the man's chest like a hot knife. His words hurting more than the arrow in his side.

"Hey." Merle snapped, regaining his attention. "They ain't yer kin, yer blood. Hell, ya had any damn nuts in that sack of yers, ya'd go back there and shoot yer pal Rick in the face for me."

"Now ya listen to me." Merle carefully continued. "Ain't nobody ever gonna care about ya except me, little brother. Nobody ever will. Come on, get up on yer feet before I have to kick yer teeth in."

Merle kicked out at Daryl's boot, nudging it across the sand. "Let's go."

It was then that Daryl came to it a bit more, nearly jumping out of his skin when he spotted the walker chewing on his boot.

Without hesitation he kicked out, sending the son of a bitch flying to the side before he tried for his crossbow but the walker grabbed him once more. He rolled with the thing for a bit, trying to muscle his way out of its grasp and finally he got his footing and found himself on top. Grabbing a large stick, Daryl bashed the geek's face in before jabbing the stick through it, ending it just in time to see another one stumbling towards him.

Grasping the arrow that was buried in his side, Daryl pulled hard at the bolt and tugged it through his side, leaving white hot pain searing through him in its wake as a groan escaped him, but he had no time to dwell.

He threw himself towards his crossbow, picking it up and loading the bloody arrow, before quickly aiming and pulling the trigger, sending the walker that was after him falling into the wet sand.

Panting, Daryl fell back into the sand as well, trying to fight the waves of pain that seared through him.

"Son of a bitch was right." He muttered.

* * *

Amity lifted her bow, wanting to take out as many of the undead as she could before they got too close.

Letting an arrow fly, the woman was pleased when it tore through the closest walker's skull, but unfortunately that meant the rest were more aware of her presence now.

They let out moans of hunger and Amity rushed to nock another arrow, letting it fly and tear through another walker skull, but at that point the other three were nearly on top of her.

She tossed her bow aside, ripping her machete from her belt as the first reached her. Bracing a hand on its chest, she made quick work of shoving the sharp end of her machete into its skull and ripping it out before swinging towards the other one, kicking out at its buddy to keep it back from her.

Unfortunately, the movement had her only clipping the jaw of the walker closest to her, her machete lodging itself deep into the tree next to her and she couldn't tug it free fast enough.

Teeth snapped closed a hair's width from her neck as Amity fought to keep the walker at bay, one of its hands smacking against her face as her hand fumbled for the knife at her belt. Finally getting it free, Amity shoved the blade deep into the forehead of the walker, letting it fall to the ground with a satisfying thud.

Kicking the other walker away once more, Amity fought to rip her machete from the tree trunk and pulled it free with just enough time to yank it back and shove it forward through the skull of the last walker.

Breathing hard, Amity looked at the gore around her as well as on her clothes, arms, and face. It had bile rising up in her throat as it usually did, but for once guilt didn't follow her ending of the undead.

She had fought to survive- and she had won.

* * *

"Please, don't feed the birds." A voice taunted as Daryl worked on hauling himself up the ridge yet again after cutting the walker's ears off and stringing them into a necklace for good measure- he had also eaten a few bloody bites of raw squirrel to regain a bit of energy.

The man looked up to see his older brother once again, staring down at him as he climbed.

"What's the matter, _Darylina_? That all ya got in ya?" Merle asked. "Throw away that purse and climb!"

"I liked it better when ya was missing." Daryl told the hallucination.

"Come on, don't be like that." Merle said. "I'm on yer side."

"Yeah? Since when?" Daryl asked, not being able to stop the scoff that left his lips.

"Hell, since the day ya were born, baby brother. Somebody had to look after yer worthless ass." Merle insisted.

"Ya never took care of me." Daryl told him. "Ya talk a big game but ya was never there. _Hell_ , ya ain't here now. Guess some things never change."

"Well, I'll tell ya what- I'm as real as your chupacabra." Merle said in response.

"I know what I saw."

"And I'm sure them 'shrooms ya ate had nothing to do with it, right?"

"Ya'd best shut the hell up."

"Or what? You're gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me?" Merle asked, taunting him. "Well, come on and do it then, if ya think you're man enough!"

Daryl pushed himself harder, yanking himself up with a loose vine and planting a foot on a small sapling.

"Hey, kick off them damn high heels and climb, son!" Merle yelled, before growing a bit quieter. "Ya know what? If I were ya I'd take a pause for the cause, brother. 'Cause I just don't think you're gonna make it to the top."

The challenge had Daryl tearing up the cliffside, intent on reaching the top and shutting his brother's mouth.

"Come on. Come on, little brother." Merle insisted.

"Grab your friend Rick's hand." He snapped, his hand outstretched before he disappeared as Daryl hauled himself over the edge, breathing hard as he climbed to his feet and looked around at the empty woods.

"Yeah, ya'd better run!"

* * *

Amity made it back to the farm in what she would call record time when keeping Jax only at a brisk trot for the majority of the journey.

As she approached the stables, she heard a small gasp from Dale as she passed.

"Amity, what happened?" The older man asked, gaining both T-Dog and Glenn's attention with his question and they looked at her blood covered form with a bit of shock. The woman didn't stop though, she rode straight back to the stable and began to untack Jax without a word.

"Red, what the hell happened to you out there?" T-Dog asked, having followed her to the stables along with the other two men.

"I ran into some walkers." She said simply, setting the tack aside and wiping it down before grabbing a damp cloth and some brushes to groom Jax.

"Some? How many is some?" Glenn asked and Amity shrugged, focused on the task at hand.

"Amity-" T-Dog began, reaching out for the woman who moved back immediately, looking at him with a certain coldness behind her eyes.

"Don't." She requested, holding a hand out towards them to keep stop them from moving any closer.

The three fell silent, watching as she finished grooming the horse before returning him to his stall and refilling his water, giving him a flake of hay as a reward for the day.

She brushed by the men who were still standing and watching her, heading back towards the camp so that she could wash up but was distracted by Andrea yelling her last name.

"Walker!"

"What?" Amity called back before feeling distinctly stupid when she realized Andrea was looking out towards the tree line. Now _that_ was going to be a bitch to get used to.

"Just the one?" Rick asked, suddenly appearing and doing a small double take at Amity who just shook her head.

"I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea said and Amity had to resist rolling her eyes.

"Just leave it." The redhead said, over the undead for the day.

"No no, Andrea. Put the gun down." Rick insisted and the blonde look especially put out.

"You'd best let us handle this." Shane called out, emerging from the camp with his shirt hanging open, baring his chest.

"Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers." Rick said, but Amity couldn't help but ignore him as well. There was no reason for Hershel to deal with the walkers when they were all out there and ready.

"What for, man? We got it covered." Shane told him.

She drew her machete from her belt and began to jog across the field with the rest of them.

"Is that Daryl?" Amity asked the men around her as they approached the 'walker,' recognizing him before any of the others did. She was pretty sure she could spot that damned redneck from a mile away at this point.

"That's the third time ya've pointed that thing at my head." Daryl snarled and Amity was taken aback for a moment by the heat in his voice. She hadn't heard him like that since back at the camp in the quarry.

"You look like you got hit by a bus." Amity told him flatly.

"Ya don't look much better, girl- what'd I tell ya?" Daryl said sharply, but the redhead just shook her head as the man's attention returned to Rick.

"Ya gonna pull the trigger or what?" He asked and suddenly a shot rang out.

Amity felt her heart drop to her feet as Daryl's body hit the ground, a scream escaping her throat in a way that she didn't know it could. Her bloodied hands went to her face as she rushed forward, falling to her knees beside the man.

"No, no, no, no no." She kept repeating, her hands hovering over him, useless in helping him in that moment until finally he moved, a pained groan escaping his throat as he reached for his head.

It grazed him- it just fucking grazed him.

Air left Amity all at once and she felt like she needed to cry and throw up at the same time.

"I was kidding." Daryl groaned out as Rick and Shane pulled him to his feet.

Amity moved beside them, Glenn's hand a guiding presence on her back that she usually would have found comforting, but in that moment she just wanted to break it, her nerves too on edge.

"Oh my God." Andrea's voice sounded from up ahead as she ran towards them. "Oh my God, is he dead?"

"If he was then _you_ would be." Amity spat, her tone making it clear that she was only a second away from ripping the blonde woman's head off.

"Unconscious." Rick cut in, answering Andrea's question.

"You just grazed him." Shane explained.

"But look at him." Glenn chimed in. "What the hell happened? He's wearing ears." He pointed out and Amity saw that indeed he was. Again- the man was never going to not surprise her.

"Let's keep that to ourselves." Rick told them, tugging sharply on the makeshift necklace and shoving it down his shirt to be hidden.

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" T-Dog asked from behind them and for some reason, they all paused, looking back to see the doll that the man was holding up.

A little while later, Amity was sat in the hall outside of the room that Hershel was fixing Daryl up in. She had a feeling that he wouldn't want her in there, not after everything that had happened and not with Hershel having to stitch him up, so she waited.

"Am, do you want to come into the kitchen?" A voice asked and the redhead looked over to see Carol standing down the hall, looking at her with a bit of concern.

"I'm okay." Amity told her, returning to the task of staring that the wooden floor beneath her feet.

"Would you- would you at least like to clean up? Maggie said that you can use the shower if you'd like- get some of that blood off of you." Carol said and it was only then that Amity realized she was still caked in dried walker blood from her own adventures in the woods.

She looked down at her arm, noting the places where the blood had dried and flaked off of her skin due to her movement.

"I guess I probably should." Amity said quietly, rising to her feet with a small sigh and following Carol just as Lori moved to take her place on the floor outside of the room.

Carol lead the way to a small bathroom, stepping aside to let Amity enter and telling her that she'd leave her a change of clothes outside of the door for when she was done.

After thanking her, Amity closed the door and wandered across the tile floor, coming face to face with herself in the mirror for a first time in the long time.

The first thing she noted was the blood. She looked like she had just stepped out of filming for the movie "Carrie." She was covered in gore and it was that moment that she realized if she hadn't rode up on a horse, then perhaps Andrea would have shot _her_ out in that field.

The next thing she noticed was the swelling around one of her eyes, apparently she had gotten knocked around by one of the walkers more than she thought. The skin was tender to the touch and she just knew she was going to have a black eye to deal with.

With that, she decided she was done looking at herself- she didn't want to see her cold blue eyes or the bags that exemplified how exhausted she was. She didn't want to see how much thinner yet stronger her body was nor how disgusting her hair had to be after her time in the woods.

Instead she chose to strip off her bloodied clothes, tossing them in the garbage rather than going through the trouble of trying to wash them, just to have them be stained like that forever. Climbing into the shower, Amity stepped under the warm spray and felt a shiver run through her body. She watched the blood and dirt and grime swirl away down the drain until the water ran clear and began to run cold.

Stepping out of the shower, she felt better than she had since she left those walkers dead in her wake. She felt more like herself and less like a destructive force, but something was harder in her chest.

Wrapping herself in a towel, Amity quickly grabbed the clothes that were outside of the door and slipped them on. She assumed they were Maggie's as they weren't familiar but the jeans fit her well enough and the tank-top was only a bit tight on her figure.

She left the bathroom then, squeezing her hair out with a towel before discarding it in the laundry hamper and padding down the hall of the house in her socks, not sure where her boots got off to, but she assumed Carol must have taken them to the front door or something.

She paused just as she spotted Carol slipping out of the room that Daryl was in. The older woman turned and spotted Amity, coming over to her immediately and gently taking her chin in her hand, turning her face so that she could look at her bruised eye.

"You need to ice that." She told her and Amity offered a tiny smile in response.

"I'll live." She reassured her and Carol just shook her head.

"You two are just alike- he's expecting you by the way. I told him you were getting cleaned up." Carol told her and Amity hesitated but the woman pushed her gently towards the door.

"I know you want to see him." She said wryly, leaving Amity glaring at her back as she continued down the hall.

Moving to the door, Amity paused just outside of it, debating whether or not to go in, but Daryl soon decided for her.

"Ya just gonna stand out there or what?" His voice asked through the door and Amity couldn't help but roll her eyes before pushing the door open. Stepping through the threshold, she gently shut the door behind her and looked at the man laying in the bed.

"I don't know if that headband thing you have going on suits you or not." Amity told him, not being able to resist teasing him when she spotted the white bandage that circled his head.

"Well that shiner definitely don't suit ya." Daryl quipped right back.

"I think it makes me look tough."

"Not that tough if ya got hit."

"That bit is unimportant." Amity insisted.

"What happened to ya?" Daryl asked after a moment of silence as Amity crossed the room, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed and tucking her feet up underneath her.

She noticed the way he kept his sheets pulled up around his bare chest and wanted to tell him that she had seen them- the scars on his chest- but knowing Daryl and her, it would just result in an argument and she didn't have the energy for that so she left it.

"You first." She countered and the man sighed.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning Amity woke up stiff and confused, her head laying on a soft surface while her body was curled up in an impossible position on the chair she had been sitting in the evening before.

Slowly she sat up, blinking the sleep away from her eyes and found that she must have fallen asleep while talking to Daryl the night before and that she had apparently leaned over, using the bed as a pillow.

Sitting back she felt a weight on one of her hands and realized that Daryl's larger one rested on top of it, keeping it in place against the sheets. She paused then, blue eyes darting to his face to see if he was still sleeping and upon confirming that he was, she gently slid her hand out from under his, holding it to her chest as she stood and quietly made her exit.

Sneaking down the hall, Amity was thankful for the fact that she was an early riser that morning and found her boots by the front door. She slipped them on and headed outside to see that Rick and Carol were the only two already awake.

"Sleep well?" Carol called out softly and Amity narrowed her eyes at the woman.

"Did you sleep inside last night?" Rick asked her, eyebrows furrowing.

"I- uh, I fell asleep in there, yeah. Didn't mean to- just got caught up talking and must have been more tired than I thought." Amity excused herself, heading for the tent she shared with Daryl so that she could grab her notebook and avoid further moritfication.

Returning to the main part of the campsite, Amity plopped down in one of the chairs, pointedly ignoring the glances that Carol was giving her as she began to pour over the notes she had.

An hour or so passed by quickly as the redhead became completely immersed in her work, only looking up when she heard the familiar grumbling of Daryl and spotted him hobbling out of the house, Rick following along after him looking annoyed.

"I said I'd help you get out here." Rick told the man.

"And I said I didn't need yer help." Daryl snapped back, heading to their tent.

Rick stopped then, his eyes finding Amity as he gave her a look that clearly asked, 'what the hell?' and Amity couldn't do anything but laugh.

Daryl definitely wasn't the easiest man in the world to get along with, but if he acted any different it would have been strange. Quite frankly, the redhead was fond of him the way he was- attitude and all. It wouldn't hurt for him to open up more to people, and that was a process she thought she could see starting, but his attitude was just a part of him.

"Don't take it personally, Sheriff." Amity told the man, causing him to shake his head at her as well.

She rose to her feet at that, deciding it was time to put away her notebook and get to helping others do things around the farm. She figured she would muck out the stalls in the stables today since she borrowed a horse the day before, then perhaps Maggie would let her do the same again so she could continue to go out and look for Sophia.

Ducking in the tent that she had mainly unzipped to let the breeze flow through, Amity tossed a wad of paper at Daryl when she saw him poking holes in the netting with one of his arrows.

"Knock it off, Dixon- you might like sleeping with mosquitos biting your ass but I don't." She told him, sitting down on her sleeping bag before pulling her backpack towards her and putting her notebook away.

"Ya fell asleep last night... I didn't want to wake ya up so I just left ya there to yer own devices." Daryl said out of the blue and Amity looked over to him with a small smile threatening to appear on her lips.

"That's okay, thanks for letting me sleep. I didn't mean to intrude on your space or anything."

"Yer in my space now. It seems I best be gettin' used to it."

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Amity told him, her voice quiet.

"It ain't too bad." Daryl said in response, eyes focused on the arrow in his hands and Amity openly smiled over at him.

The sound of someone entering the tent had the pair looking over, Amity's eyes narrowing when she saw it was Andrea standing there.

"Hey." She greeted, looking warily at Amity before turning to Daryl and offering him a book. "This isn't that great but..."

Daryl took it from her hands even with the words of warning and flipped through the pages.

"What? No pictures?" He asked and Amity let out a snort of amusement at his joking before pushing herself to her feet.

"Where ya goin', girl?" Daryl called after her, Andrea looking between the two with interest.

"Someone's got to pull their weight around here, Dixon- I'm going to go muck out the stables, maybe take a horse out to search for Sophia." Amity answered him, looking over with a brow raised.

"Ya shouldn't go alone."

"And you shouldn't have fallen down a cliff, but look where we are." Amity quipped back with a teasing smile, leaving the tent to stop the impending argument.

"I'm so sorry." She heard Andrea tell the injured man just before she was out of earshot of the pair.

While heading to the stables, Amity spotted Rick, Shane, and Jimmy gathered around the map they were using to plot out the search and decided to make a pit stop- knowing that talking to them was in her best interest.

"Hey, peach man!" Shane called out just as Amity joined the trio and she glanced over to see that he was calling over Glenn.

"The creek flows south past that farmhouse Daryl found." Rick was telling them, continuing to be on task the best he could. "Maybe Sophia dropped the doll there and the current brought it downstream."

"So what you think? That she took this road here and went north?" Shane asked, running a finger along the map where he was talking about. "What's up that way?"

"A housing development." Jimmy told them all. "It went in maybe 10 years ago."

"Take a run up there after gun practice." Rick told Shane. "I'll hold down the fort here, but take backup. After what went down with Daryl, I don't want anyone going out alone. We stay in pairs." He continued, giving Amity a pointed look since she had went out alone yesterday and it was almost like he knew she was planning on doing the same that day.

Dad instincts were ridiculous.

"I'll take suggestions on a partner." Shane said and Amity waved a hand at him, gaining his attention as she gave him a look of faux offense.

"I promise I play well with others." She told him, pulling an amused smile and eye roll from the man. "I'll even come with you to gun practice and show you I can cover your ass just fine, yeah?"

"I know you have me covered, Am- I wasn't doubting you." Shane tried to defend but Amity shook her head at him, not buying a word of it.

"Either way I'll tag along, maybe I can help out." She reasoned before taking a peach from the basket Glenn was carrying. "Thanks, Glenny." She chirped before pausing as she noticed him avoiding eye contact with not only her, but specifically the two men next to her.

"My binoculars." Shane requested, flustering Glenn as the young man scrambled to hand them over.

Amity wasn't sure what had him acting so weird- maybe something had happened with Maggie- but she sensed it was more than that for some reason.

"Okay, bye." Glenn said suddenly, rushing off and leaving them all watching him go with varying looks of confusion.

"We'd like to join you for gun training today." Beth's voice cut in as the blonde approached with Patricia at her side, gaining all of their attention.

"Hershel's been very clear." Rick told her. "I can't involve any of you in what we do without his okay."

"He doesn't like it, but he consented." Beth said with a small smile, catching Amity's eye who returned the smile brightly.

"Otis was the only one who knew guns." Patricia explained. "Now that he's gone, we gotta learn to protect ourselves. Her father saw the sense in that."

"No offense, but I'll ask Hershel myself." Rick told them both.

Amity decided to take her leave then as Shane did, heading to grab a hair tie so that she could put her hair up in a messy bun, keeping the red monster off her neck and shoulders in hopes of keeping cool during shooting practice.

She moved quietly as she dug through her bag, having come into her tent to find Daryl fast asleep sprawled out on his makeshift bed much to her own amusement. It was no surprise that the healing archer was beat, but still, seeing him passed out like he was in the middle of the day was something of an oddity.

When Shane called her name Amity came out of her tent and headed the man's way, offering a smile as she moved towards the car he was loading up.

"Ready, Chief?" She asked, leaning against the car.

"Yes, m'am." Shane replied, teasing her right back before looking over to where Glenn stood.

"You coming?" He asked the Korean boy who shook his head, acting awkward.

Amity raised a brow at him, catching his gaze for only a moment before Glenn was looking away.

"I gotta help Dale clean the spark plugs on the RV. He said he's gonna teach me mechanics." Glenn excused. "I should probably go look for him."

"You found me." Dale's voice sounded from where the older man stood nearby, looking at Glenn with a bit of masked confusion.

"He's a good learner." He added, going along with Glenn's story and causing Amity to just shake her head, walking around the car to get in the passenger seat, deciding that whatever was going on- the two of them could figure it out.

"Come on, Baldy. We ain't got all day." Amity called out the window, leaning over the driver's seat to do so and Shane climbed in a moment later, giving her an unamused look that had the woman laughing.

They made it to the site they were shooting at fairly quickly and soon they had bottles set up along the fence for everyone to use as targets.

"Hey, Am. Here's your piece." T-Dog said, coming up behind the redhead who was looking out over their makeshift range and held out her small handgun for her to take.

"Thanks, T." She told the man with a smile, making quick work of checking to see if it's loaded.

"Here's your proof, Deputy." Amity called over to Shane, making the man look her way just before she began to shoot, easily shattering three of the bottles before she decided to make a point and put three rounds through the empty space of the "e" on a "no trespassing" sign.

Jimmy let out a low whistle, making Amity laugh as Rick and Shane settled on either side of her.

"I didn't doubt you, Red. Told you that." Shane said simply.

"We'd be dumb to at this point- we've seen you with your bow." Rick added and Amity nodded thoughtfully, still looking at her grouping on the sign.

"Thanks. I guess I just wanted to make sure that y'all knew you could count on me to have your backs." She said quietly and smiled when Rick's hand settled on the top of her head, ruffling her messy auburn locks.

Amity backed off then and just started to help out everyone else who was shooting. She hovered near Beth for a good bit, instructing her on things here and there and giving her pointers before wandering over to Shane and Andrea- who seemed to take a page out of Amity's book and aimed smaller.

"Good shot, Andrea." Amity complimented looking at her grouping in the'"a" on the sign Amity had shot at earlier. The blonde looked at her with a bit of surprise, obviously not expecting something nice out of the woman with how mad she had been at her.

"Just make sure you really look before you shoot from now on, yeah?" Amity requested with a small smile. "I have no doubt you'd blow Daryl away now."

Andrea laughed lightly at that. "Well he did say that I needed to make sure he was dead next time I shot at him." She told her.

"Of course he did." Amity replied, rolling her eyes fondly- glad for the bit of tension between them to be gone even if she was the one holding it there all along.

Amity waited at the range while Shane gave Andrea a more advanced lesson. She sat in the Hyundai with her feet propped up on the dash and the door open until yelling caught her attention.

She quickly climbed out of the vehicle just in time to see Andrea storming off down the road and Shane heading her way, looking a bit guilty.

"Whatever you did go make it right and take her back to the farm. I'll wait here, find something to kill some time, swing by and pick me up on the way back and we can go to that development." Amity told him, leaving no room for argument as she gathered both her gun and her bow from the backseat of the car.

Shane did as she requested and in the meantime, Amity wandered into the woods. She didn't really have a reason for doing so, but she figured it was better than just waiting around in the hot sun for her friend to return.

Leaves crunched under her boots as she walked, blue eyes scanning the trees around her until a small growling caught her attention.

Quietly Amity moved towards the sound, making sure to stay low and stay hidden until she spotted a small dark green tent. Cautiously, the woman approached the makeshift campsite, on edge and ready to defend herself if something less than savory came after her, but all that waited for her was one lone walker, tied to a tree by a rope around one of its ankles.

A small sigh escaped the woman's lips as she watched the creature for a moment, noting the bite mark on its forearm and the small silver pendant that hung around its neck that said 'mom.' There was no sign of anyone or anything else around so Amity stepped forward, weighing her options for a moment before unsheathing her knife and shoving the blade through the walker's skull, pulling it out immediately, and watching the walker crumple to the ground.

"Sorry." She said simply before wiping the knife off on the walker's shirt and heading back to the shooting range just as a familiar Hyundai pulled up.

"Have fun?" Shane asked as she climbed in.

"You make things right?" Amity asked in response.

"Did my best." Shane told her.

"Me too."

The housing development was dead quiet when they arrived, the place looking worn but untouched in a way that had a chill running down Amity's spine.

"We're gonna have to go house to house." Shane told her as they moved down the street, Amity with her bow in her hands, her gun holstered on her waist. "We'll start at the far end and we'll work our way back."

"If Sophia got this far, she has a real shot, don't you think?" Amity said, looking around them but she recieved no response, making her look over at Sahne with a raised brow.

"I know you don't have high hopes for finding her, Shane- but I do." She added quietly, letting that hang in the air for a moment. "I used to live in a place like this." She revealed, causing Shane to look at her then.

"You did?"

"Yep, lived in one of these big houses with a house plant for company." She told him, laughing lightly.

"No husband? Boyfriend?" Shane asked and Amity shook her head.

"Dog?" He added with a playful smile.

"Not yet- that was on my list though. I told myself if I ever found the time then I would get a puppy... I doubt I would have found the time."

"Workaholic?"

"You could say that." Amity said with a small shrug.

They reached the first house and paused at the door, waiting and listening for a beat before heading inside, weapons aimed in front of them as they slowly worked to clear the house.

"Sophia?" Amity called out softly. "Soph- it's Amity and Shane. You in here?"

They continued through the house a ways, stopping when they were met with a makeshift barricade.

"They walled off the hallway?" Amity asked.

"They tried to make a stand here." Shane explained and the woman let out a sigh, ducking through a small hole in the wall just after Shane did.

"Sophia?" She tried again until they came upon a garage with bodies laid out over one another, their flesh almost completely gone as a few flies buzzed around the corpses.

Amity felt like screaming out in frustration.

"She was never here, was she?" Amity asked, a bit of her hope for finding the little girl fading, but she couldn't let herself give up. "I don't know how to tell Carol this was another dead end."

Just as she said that, a bang sounded from outside and the pair turned to see the stumbling feet of walkers coming at them, just in sight from under the partially opened garage door.

"Maybe I won't have to." Amity said as one dropped to the ground and began crawling inside.

"Come on, let's move!" Shane told her, leading the way back through the house and out the door that would take them to the car. The previously empty street was flooded with the undead and Amity's heart was racing in her chest.

"Where did all of these fuckers even come from?" She wondered aloud.

"Cover that street." Shane directed her and Amity hooked her bow over her shoulder, pulling her gun from her holster. "I'll clear the car."

Shane let off a few shots, dropping the walkers around the car while Amity focused on the ones coming down the street towards them. She took out one then another but when she went to shoot again the damned thing just clicked.

"Shit." She cursed causing Shane to look her way.

"Focus now. Clear the jam." He told her but Amity just re-holstered the gun, taking her bow from her shoulder and nocking one of her last few arrows.

"Damned useless things." She said, cursing the firearm as she skewered a walker's skull with an arrow, backing her way up to join Shane in the car.

The man started up the vehicle and with a squeal of the tires, they peeled out of the place.

Once the dead end of a development was left behind them, Amity couldn't help but let out a relieved laugh, leaning forward across the center console to mess with the radio, determined to play the Taylor Swift CD she had found and stuck in there even if it meant Shane would kill her.

"That was fun." She chirped.

She didn't notice the car slowing down until it was stopped and she looked over to Shane with a bit of confusion.

"Come here." He requested and she raised a brow, completely confused until the man leaned forward, his hand going to the back of her neck, fingers tangling in the hair that had fallen from her bun in the craziness as he crashed his lips to hers.

Amity sat still, completely stunned for a moment until she finally regained her senses and placed a hand on either of his shoulders, pressing the man back and away from her.

Shane seemed to have gathered a different message from her actions though and tried to pull her with him as he sat back in the driver's seat, his hands lifting her by her waist and nearly pulling her to straddle him, but Amity wasn't making things easy for him.

"Whoa, whoa!" She said, her voice nearly a squeak as she pulled back from the kiss, his lips now on her jaw then trailing down her neck before he nipped at the skin of her throat.

"Stop!" She said loudly, finally finding her words as she scrambled backwards to fall back into the passenger seat, leaving the man looking at her with confusion.

"What?" He asked.

"What do you mean _what_?" Amity responded, completely caught off guard with the whole situation and he had the audacity to ask her 'what?'

"What was that?" She asked him, voice sharp.

"Come on, Am- it was just a kiss. I thought that's where this was heading." Shane told her and she looked at him like he just told her he found an elephant out in the woods earlier that morning.

"That definitely wasn't where _I_ planned on things heading." She told him flatly.

"So you didn't want to kiss me? You and I- we get along, Red. We see eye to eye. You can hold your own and that's not something easy to find nowadays." Shane said, voice softer, like he was talking her down from a ledge. It seemed to be a tone that both him and Rick often used with her.

"We're both alone in this, I thought we could take away a bit of that loneliness for one another." He reasoned.

Amity considered what he said, taking in the man across from her for a moment. There was no doubt in her mind that he was handsome and capable- a good laugh at times and a pretty good friend, but ever since he got back from the run with Otis- something wasn't right with him.

It was like playing with fire and she didn't know if she was willing to risk getting burned, especially not with the flash of Georgia blue that always lingered in her mind.

"You could have asked." She said finally and Shane let out a small chuckle.

"I'm asking."

"Keep driving, Chief. Maybe I'll give you an answer someday." Amity told him and Shane was smart enough not to press her, instead pushing the gas and taking them back to the farm.

Pulling into the driveway, Shane came in a little hot, gravel flying and bringing a couple people out to look at them.

"Anything?" Carol asked, wandering over to them as they climbed out of the car.

"Not today." Shane told her and Amity met her eyes, reaching out a hand towards her.

"I'm so sorry, Carol. We'll cover more ground tomorrow." She promised and the woman returned her smile before her eyes dropped down to the curve of Amity's throat, her brows furrowing as she looked up to meet Amity's eyes with questioning clear on her face.

"What happened out there?" Dale asked, looking carefully between Amity and Shane.

"Well, uh-" Amity began, her mind automatically hopping back to what happened in the car.

"The place was overrun." Shane cut in, saving her though she wasn't sure that either of the other two people there bought what they said. It was the truth though, just missing a few pieces.

"Yeah." Amity confirmed.

Carol simply looked at the woman for a moment before gently taking her by the elbow and leading her back towards the camp as Dale went to follow Shane.

"Let's go get you cleaned up." The older woman suggested.

The two walked to where the water buckets were kept, the redhead settling down with a washcloth so she could wipe a bit of the grime from her skin and Carol sat down next to her, briefly glancing around them to make sure no one else was within earshot.

"What really happened out there?" She asked and Amity looked over to her, blue eyes widening a bit.

"What do you mean? We were overrun in the development, had to shoot our way out but my gun jammed which is exactly why I always use my bow." Amity said and Carol shook her head.

"I believe that- but what else... or did a walker give you that mark on your neck?" She asked and Amity nearly fell over.

"What mark?" She asked, voice a bit panicked and Carol reached forward to tap the small red mark on Amity's throat where Shane's nip must have left a tiny bruise.

"It'll be faded in the morning, I'm sure- but Amity... _Shane_?" Carol said, sounding a bit disappointed for reasons that Amity did not understand.

Amity sighed, looking around them again to confirm that definitely no one was listening in on them before looking back at Carol.

"Okay, listen- we were surrounded like I said and we got back to the car and were driving back when Shane pulled over and well... he kissed me- which I was by no means expecting. I kind of went brain dead for a bit but then I stopped the situation and he explained himself." She told the older woman, feeling like a gossiping teen, but it was nice to have someone to talk to even if Carol looked unhappy with what she was saying. "It was a loneliness thing and- he wanted me to think about it happening again..." She trailed off then.

"And?" Carol insisted.

"And I don't think that's something I want. He and I get along for the most part, but..."

"But he's not who you want to be with." Carol said gently and Amity looked at her with curiosity, wondering how she arrived to that conclusion.

"It's okay, Am- I understand." The woman told her, taking the washcloth from her and dipping it in the water before roughly rubbing it over the mark on her neck. "The cold will help it." She explained and Amity couldn't help but laugh.

"Ooo, Carol's got the hickey hiding tips. Why do I get the vibe that you were a wild child?" The redhead teased and Carol lightly whipped her arm with the washcloth.

"Go to your tent." Carol playfully scolded the woman and Amity rose to her feet with a laugh, moving quickly away to do as she said before she got swatted once more.

Ducking into her tent, she spotted Daryl laying where she left him that morning surprisingly enough.

"Ya two were over there gossipin' like a couple of hens." He said, looking at Amity over the top of the book in his hands.

"We had a lot to talk about." Amity said with a small shrug.

"Hear ya went out lookin' for Sophia with Shane." Daryl said, shifting on his cot with a small groan so that he could better look at the redhead as she plopped down on her sleeping bag.

"It was a dead end- found nothing but a bunch of undead." She told him, shaking her head a bit.

"That all ya found?" Daryl asked and Amity looked at him with confusion.

"Nice hickey." He spat, his blue eyes intense as he tried to read her face.

"It's a long story." Amity said with a heavy sigh, shaking her head and moving to run her fingers through her hair but found that her hair was still up. She roughly yanked the hair tie out of her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders in messy waves before she tossed the hair tie aside, annoyed.

"Most people are less irritated when they get laid." Daryl said, his voice carrying a hard edge to it. "Deputy Do-Good not a good time?"

"I didn't have sex with Shane." Amity said sharply and the man snorted in response.

"I didn't- he kissed me, caught me off guard and I froze up- apparently he got my neck harder than I thought he did before I made him stop." She told him, meeting his gaze and feeling like he was looking right through her, sizing up her story to see if it held any truth or not.

"He stop when ya told him to?" Daryl asked, his voice different as a lot of the heat had left it though a bit of hardness remained.

"He did." Amity confirmed and her tent mate seemed to relax a bit. She was a bit touched by his small show of concern.

"Ya interested in him?" Daryl asked suddenly after silence fell between them and Amity paused in finger-combing her hair, considering his question. It was shocking that he asked, but Amity wasn't going to frighten off his attempt at having an actual conversation by pointing that out.

"It's not him I've got eyes for." She told him, meeting his Georgia blues for a moment before picking up his book that he had laid to the side and tossing it his way.

"Get back to your book, Dixon." She instructed, chuckling at his grumbling that followed.

* * *

Morning breakfasts with the entirety of their group was one of Amity's favorite things.

She loved the quietness that settled over the farm in the morning and the sleepy laziness that everyone still held a bit of while they sat around the fire, eating their share of the food that morning.

Amity was sat on the ground, leaning against the leg of the camping chair that Daryl sat in while she quietly chewed on the eggs she was served that morning. Her blue eyes scanned the group as they usually did, taking in everyone's expressions to try to determine how they were feeling that day.

She caught Shane's eye, the man looking at her a bit expectantly, but she kept moving her gaze along, feeling Daryl shift a bit on the chair behind her. Her eyes landed on Lori and Rick next and she smiled a bit as the couple rested their foreheads against one another, seemingly sharing a small moment. Next she looked at Glenn, following his eyes from Maggie on the porch who was shaking her head to Dale who was nodding at him. Glenn seemed conflicted and Amity nearly stood to go over to him, but the young man was already rising to his feet.

"Um, guys." Glenn began, looking around at all of them. "So... the barn's full of walkers." He announced.

A beat of stunned silence fell over the group and then suddenly everyone was scrambling to their feet and heading towards the barn, Glenn running along beside the group and Amity caught his eye, giving him a look as they came to a stop in front of the large wooden structure.

Amity moved with Shane, bracing her hands against the wooden side of the barn as she peered through the cracks in the walls, trying to count how many walkers she saw roving around inside.

Suddenly, one snarled just in front of Shane and Amity jumped back, turning to look at the group with wide eyes and shaking her head.

"You cannot tell me you're all right with this." Shane said, stalking over to the group with Amity following along behind, the woman going to stand between Daryl and Carol, the older woman taking her hand in her's and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"No, I'm not, but we're guests here." Rick told his friend. "This isn't our land."

"This is our lives!" Shane said loudly.

"Lower your voice!" Amity told him, looking back at the barn doors warily.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea insisted.

"It ain't right." Shane agreed. "Not remotely."

The man became more erratic in his anger, running a hand over his shaved head. "Okay, we've either got to go in there- we've got to make things right or we've just got to go." He said. "Now, we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time..."

"We can't go." Rick snapped.

"Why, Rick?" Shane challenged. "Why?"

"Because my daughter is still out there." Carol told him, standing up to the man a bit and Amity nodded from her side in support.

"Okay." Shane said, the tone of his voice already having Amity's hackles raising as he ran a hand over his face. "Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility."

"We're not leaving Sophia behind." Amity all but snarled, eyes narrowing in challenge to the man.

"I'm close to finding this girl." Daryl said, stalking forward like an agitated animal. "I just found her damn doll two days ago."

"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did." Shane told the man, his voice condescending. "You found a _doll_."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about." Daryl snapped, going at him but Rick stepped between them, holding out an arm to keep the peace.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said." Shane insisted. "You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours!"

"Shane, stop!" Rick told the man.

"Let me tell you something else, man." Shane seethed, his eyes on Daryl. "If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck- she would run in the other direction!"

That seemed to be the last straw for Daryl as he threw himself at the former cop, Rick barely getting in between them in time and Amity stepped forward to help pull them apart. She stepped in front of Daryl, placing her hands on his chest and firmly guiding him back, moving with him a few steps until he was out of Shane's reach and Shane was out of his.

"Don't you come at me, boy!" Shane yelled, lunging for him as well as he was pulled away.

"Get your hands off of me." He spat at Lori and Amity watched him storm away, shaking her head lightly.

Shane seemed to finally reached the edge that Amity had been waiting for- she was just wondering when he'd jump.

"Now just let me talk to Hershel." Rick yelled after him. "Let me figure it out."

"What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane yelled at his friend, going for him then. Amity moved to intervene as Lori did, worried what Shane would do but a hand on her hip kept her in place and she looked back to see Daryl shaking his head at her.

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it." Rick told Shane. "This is his land."

"Hershel sees those things in there as people- sick people- his wife, his stepson." Dale cut in.

"You knew?" Rick asked the older man.

"Yesterday I talked to Hershel." Dale said evenly.

"And you waited the night?" Shane asked harshly.

"I thought we could survive one more night." Dale explained. "We did. I was waiting till this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one."

"The man is crazy, Rick! If Hershel thinks those things are alive or no-" Shane yelled once more but was cut off by the sound of the barn doors being slammed against.

Walker growls and moans sounded across the space, their rotten fingers pushing through the gaps in the boards as the door buckled a bit under their weight.

Amity stumbled a step back to Carol's side but the other woman kept backing away, Amity looked over in search of Daryl's eyes and easily found them. The man pushed a hand through his dirty hair, looking at her for a long moment before back at the rattling barn doors and shaking his head.

* * *

Finally Amity had gotten around to mucking out the stalls like she had been planning on.

One by one, Amity would turn a horse out to pasture while she parked a wheelbarrow in front of an open stall, using a shovel-like pitchfork to scoop soiled bedding out.

She was on the third stall by the time she heard someone else wander into the barn, assuming it was Maggie, Amity went about her business until she heard Carol's voice ring out down the aisle.

"You can't." She said.

"I'm fine." A familiar gruff voice replied.

"Hershel said you need to heal." Carol insisted.

"Yeah, I don't care." Daryl told the woman and Amity nearly rolled her eyes as she continued to muck out the stall, deciding that if anyone outside of herself could handle Daryl then it was that woman.

"Well, I do." Carol told him. "Rick's going out later to follow the trail."

"Yeah well, I ain't gonna sit around and do nothing." Daryl told her flatly.

"No, you're gonna go out there and get yourself hurt even worse." The woman said, her voice falling quieter then and Amity had to strain to hear her. "We don't know if we're gonna find her, Daryl."

Amity leaned heavily against the wooden wall of the stall in response to the mother's broken tone, her eyes closing as a bit of grief overcame her, her hand raising to cover her eyes for a moment.

Carol had lost hope. Amity had failed her- she broke her promise about finding Sophia and now Carol was suffering for it.

"We don't. I don't." The mother continued.

"What?" Daryl asked, sounding as put off as Amity felt.

"Can't lose you too." Carol told him.

Silence followed that until Amity heard Daryl let out a small yell and something heavy hit the ground, only then did she peek her head out of the stall to see the man holding his side, stumbling down the aisle a bit.

"Are you all right?" Carol asked, rushing to his side but he waved her off.

"Just leave me be." He spat, walking away from the barn. "Stupid bitch."

Amity's jaw dropped a bit at the harsh words Daryl had thrown at Carol of all people. She understood that he was angry at Shane, the situation, and at himself for being injured, but that was _not_ a good reason to take it out on the woman- there was never going to be a good reason to do so.

"Asshole." Amity stated, causing Carol to whip around and look at her with wide eyes, apparently not knowing she was there.

"I'm taking Jax out to scan the woods some more once I'm done mucking out these stalls." Amity told Carol, fixing the woman with a look that let her know she had heard everything. "I'm not stopping yet, Carol." She said firmly.

Carol looked at her for a long moment, a tear rolling down her cheek before she was nodding and moving from the barn. Amity watched her go for a long moment, leaning heavily against the pitchfork in her hands before sighing and turning to get back to work.

Once she had finished, Amity returned most of the horses to their stalls save for Jax who she hooked up to the cross ties to be tacked up.

Just as she was going for the saddle, footsteps sounded down the aisle of the barn and she spotted Shane coming towards her.

"Need something?" Amity asked, not playing friendly as she was still pissed at him for his display earlier.

"An answer." Shane said, stepping in front of her, stopping her from reaching for the saddle on the rack.

"To what?" She questioned, trying to reach around him but he took a step forward, causing her to move back until the tack room wall was pressing against her shoulder blades.

"Me and you- are you wanting to do this or not?" Shane asked, pressing a hand against the wood on one side of her head, tilting his head as he went almost nose to nose with her.

"I'm not interested. Especially not now." Amity told him sharply, not letting herself be intimidated by him.

"Not now?"

"Not after how you've been acting about the barn, about Sophia- frankly, ever since you came back without Otis you've been out of it."

"Oh yeah, you decide that with your mind doctor bullshit then?"

"No, Shane- I figured it out because I have _eyes_. You're losing it." Amity told him. "You need to take a step back and let Rick handle things. You're not in the right mind to-"

"Don't tell me what I am!" Shane yelled in her face, his hand slamming against the wood of the wall next to her head, causing her to wince a bit but otherwise she stood firm, her hand resting on the knife she always kept on her belt.

"Is everything alright here?" A voice asked and Amity ripped her eyes off of Shane to see Maggie standing in the doorway of the tack room eyeing Shane with open dislike.

"Everything is perfect." Shane replied, his voice dangerously even as he pushed off the wall and stalked towards the door.

"Don't leave camp until Rick and Andrea do." He commanded over his shoulder as he ducked past Maggie and then he was gone.

Amity's head fell heavily back against the wall of the tack room as she allowed herself to finally show a bit of the fear she was holding within her, breathing hard as Maggie wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"Are you okay? I heard him yellin'." The young woman explained and Amity nodded quickly.

"He can't do that. You need to tell someone- Rick or Daryl." Maggie insisted but Amity shook her head.

"There's enough going on without me adding to it, Mags." She said quietly. "I can handle Shane."

Maggie didn't look convinced but she nodded, hooking her arm with Amity's as they left the tack room and put up Jax together.

The pair of them walked back towards the house, settling on the steps with Glenn.

Glenn narrowed his eyes a bit at the two women, trying to figure out what had happened as they both looked a bit shook up but he decided not to question it once Maggie subtly shook her head at him.

The trio sat on the steps of the house, chatting and joking around until Andrea and T-Dog approached them, looking annoyed.

"Do you know what's going on?" T-Dog asked them.

"Where is everyone?" Andrea added.

"You haven't seen Rick?" Glenn questioned in return.

"No, he went off with Hershel." Andrea told them. "We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago."

"Yeah, you were. What the hell?" Daryl said, walking up with Carol to join in on their little pow-wow.

Amity decided that it was time for her to get off the steps at that point and pushed herself to her feet, wandering over to the group with Maggie just behind her.

"Rick told us he was going out." Carol chimed in.

"Damn it." Daryl cursed. "Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail." He said, throwing an arm back towards the woods, turning as he did so and spotted Shane who was stalking towards them.

"Oh, here we go." Daryl said.

Amity rested her hands on her hips, Maggie coming up to her side, a comforting presence as she knew that the younger woman had her back.

"What's all this?" Daryl asked Shane, gesturing at the bag of guns he had slung over his shoulder.

"You with me, man?" Shane asked and Daryl didn't hesitate a moment.

"Yeah." He said, taking one of the guns and cocking it before meeting Amity's gaze. The woman pressed her lips together tightly, turning her eyes away from Daryl as she shook her head a bit.

"Time to grow up." Shane announced to the group, the lot of them following the man who seemed to be on a mission.

"You already got yours?" He asked Andrea.

"Yeah." She said. "Where's Dale?"

"He's on his way." Shane assured her.

"Thought we couldn't carry." T-Dog pointed out.

"We can and we have to." Shane told him before looking around at the group. "Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe, but now we know it ain't."

"How about you, man?" Shane asked Glenn. "You gonna protect yours?" He questioned, and Glenn looked back towards Maggie before taking the gun that was offered to him.

"That's it." Shane encouraged before turning to Maggie and Amity.

"You with me, Red?" He asked, stepping into her space and holding her gun out to her.

Amity held the man's gaze for a long moment, reading the frantic edge that lingered behind his eyes and shook her head.

"That's how it's gonna be? You're not going to protect the group?" Shane asked her harshly.

"All I've done is protect the damn group!" Amity said back, nearly yelling in response as she snapped a bit, tired of him trying to walk all over her. "This isn't about protecting the group, this is about you not being able to handle not being in charge of everything all the time! It's alpha male bullshit that's gonna cause more trouble than what it's worth!"

"You listen to me-" Shane began, his voice a low growl as he pressed the redhead back a step, but he was cut off by Daryl muscling his way in between them and shoving Shane back away from Amity.

"Touch her and I'll break yer hands." Daryl growled and Shane just looked at the pair, sizing them up for a moment as Maggie stepped up beside Amity once more before apparently deciding that wasn't a battle he wanted to deal with right then and turned to Maggie.

"Can you shoot?" He asked her.

"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, and my dad will make you leave tonight." The woman told him, anger plain in her stance.

"We have to stay, Shane." Carl told the man from his spot on the porch, apparently having came outside when he heard them all.

"What is this?" Lori asked, walking up then as she had probably heard the commotion as well.

"We ain't going anywhere, okay?" Shane reassured the young boy. "Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He- well, he's gonna have to."

"Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right?" Shane asked Carl, kneeling down in front of him and offering out a small handgun. "Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how." He shook the gun at him a bit, willing him to take it. "Go on, take the gun and do it."

Lori pushed between them, moving Carl back from the man.

"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make." She told him, her voice low.

"Oh shit." T-Dog cut in and Amity turned, following his eyes and spotting what he had in the distance. Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy coming out of the woods with walkers on snare poles like rabid dogs.

"This is going to go well." She muttered and sure enough a moment later Shane was off towards Hershel and Rick like a bullet.

"What is that?" Shane asked as he ran, the rest of the group hot on his heels, Amity and Glenn both catching up to the man and exchanging worried looks.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shane yelled at his friend.

"Shane, just back off." Rick snapped.

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asked and Amity couldn't believe that the man could focus on anything but the walker on the end of the pole.

"Are you kidding me?" Shane asked. "You see? You see what they're holding onto?" Shane yelled at the group.

"I see who I'm holding onto." Hershel told him.

"No, man, you don't." Shane snapped back.

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick cut in, trying to soothe over the situation but Amity knew it was too late. Shane had already made his decision on the situation a long while ago- this was just the icing on the cake for the man at this point.

Daryl, Glenn, and T-Dog stood in front of the group as the men and walkers got closer, guns aimed at the undead just in case they got out of the men's grasp as Shane circled them, causing the walkers to lunge at him.

"What you want to talk about, Rick?" Shane asked, passing Amity and making her jump back as one of the walkers went for him but stumbled past as he moved, nearly grabbing her arm.

"Girl, get back." Daryl growled from beside of her, tugging her back by her wrist before moving to place himself between her, the rest of the group, and the walkers.

"These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're _dead_. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do- they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us!" Shane yelled.

"Shane, shut up!" Rick yelled at him in response.

"Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person- could they walk away from this?" Shane said, pulling his gun and shooting the walker on Hershel's pole three times.

"Stop it!" Rick shouted.

"That's three rounds in the chest." Shane told the older man. "Could someone who's alive- could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?"

The man shot the female walker twice more. "That's its heart, its lungs." He announced. "Why is it still coming?"

"Shane, enough." Rick told him.

"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." The crazed man agreed, walking forward and shooting the walker in the head, dropping it then and there. Amity watched Hershel as it fell, her heart going out for the old misled man who watched what was a person to him crumple to the ground.

"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" He yelled, Carol's small gasp reaching Amity's ears and tearing at her heart. "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us." He looked at his best friend then.

"Rick, it ain't like it was before!" He told him. "Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now."

"Take the snare pole." Rick told Hershel, holding the thing out towards the old man but it seemed that everyone was too stunned to speak or move, Hershel included.

Shane stormed off towards the barn, ripping at the locks with his hands before digging out a pickaxe of some sort from the random pieces of equipment around the barn and hitting the locks with that.

"Hershel, take the snare pole." Rick pleaded. "Hershel, listen to me, man, _please_."

"No, Shane. Do not do this, brother." He yelled from where he was, seemingly accepting that Hershel wasn't going to move.

"Don't do it!" Glenn yelled as well and suddenly Amity realized that they were all just watching this happen. Watching this man have a psychotic breakdown and they were just letting his destructive force run free.

"Shane!" She yelled, striding past Rick and his walker, past Daryl who grabbed for her but was torn between keeping a gun on the walker in front of him or keeping her from doing something stupid.

"What is this going to solve?" Amity asked, yelling her question as she approached the man just as he ripped the padlock off the barn door with the pickaxe.

"This isn't going to make anything right! This isn't going to fix what you're feeling!" She told him as he pulled the board from the door and she reached out for it, stopping him from throwing it away. He wasn't listening though and he wasn't giving up what he was doing without a fight.

All it took was a sharp shove against the wood to have her reeling back, the corner clipping her cheek as he threw it away, and she stumbled to the ground.

"Amity!" She heard Maggie yell from behind her as Shane ignored the fallen redhead, banging on the barn doors to rile up the walkers instead.

"Come on, we're out here!" He shouted, backing up and drawing his gun.

Amity was dazed, her right cheek stinging as blood poured down it from the nasty gash the wood had left, but the sounds of the walkers grew louder and she scrambled back, struggling to get to her feet as the first undead emerged from the barn, its eyes locked on her.

It stumbled forward, hunger its only emotion before it dropped from a shot to the head, Daryl rushing forward a moment after to haul Amity to her feet and drag her back to the relative safety of the group before he continued to drop walkers like flies along with Glenn, Shane, Andrea, and T-Dog.

For once, blue eyes didn't scan the group to look for their reactions to the situation- she already knew what they were. Those who weren't shooting were a mix between afraid and mortified at the display before them.

Amity felt sick to her stomach as she watched walker after walker drop- not even because of the loss of life, but because of the devastation that it brought to the family that she had gotten so close to over their time on the farm.

The never-ending stream of walkers finally ended as the last gunshot rang across the farmland. The group stood in relative silence, small cries and sniffles escaping a few of them, but most watched the barn with a mixture of hesitance and straight numbness.

No one knew what to do then, what came next, but the new world was cruel and had a fucked up sense of irony- so another growl sounded from the barn.

Everyone's eyes turned, watching as a small walker stumbled into the sunlight, dirty blonde hair showing as it guarded its eyes from the bright light for a moment before looking up.

Amity's legs buckled beneath her, sending her to her knees on the dirt path, trembling hands covering her mouth as she fought the urge to cover her eyes, to pretend that this wasn't happening.

"Sophia?" Carol cried out from behind her. "Sophia!" She yelled, running towards the walker that was once her little girl. Daryl caught the woman around her waist, falling to the ground with her and holding her back from running into danger. "Sophia." She sobbed, her eyes never leaving the walker.

"Why?" Amity whispered to herself, hot tears finally falling for the first time since the epidemic had started.

Since before the day she found a note in her office telling her to go to Atlanta.

Since before she had gotten the phone call saying that her father had passed and she wasn't there.

"Sophia." Carol repeated, her voice breaking as Rick made his way to the front of the group and stopped in front of the walker- the walker that was once the little girl they had spent so long looking for.

He stared her down, his jaw jumping as he raised his pistol and finally another shot rang out over the farm as the small body dropped to the dirt.

A broken wail left Carol, the woman collapsing forward on the dirt and Amity wrapped her arms around herself, trying to fight off the grief that threatened to break her apart.

"Don't look." Daryl told the woman in his arms, hauling her to her feet as he tried to turn her away. "Don't look."

Carol shoved him back from her, seemingly lost in that moment before she ran away from the group, sobs wracking her body.

Amity's eyes found Daryl's and she noted the sadness behind his gaze- the sadness and guilt that she knew must have been reflected in her own as she stayed knelt down, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

Maybe there was no way out of these woods.


	10. Chapter 10

Sobs tore from Beth's chest as she stood in Jimmy's embrace, her eyes trained on the dead laying unmoving on the ground. Amity knew that her step-mother and step-brother had been a part of the walkers in the barn and she couldn't even fathom how devastating the massacre had to be for the young girl.

Amity felt a presence next to her and looked to see that Daryl had knelt down beside of her, his eyes searching her face before one of his hands rose and hovered over her cheek that was still bleeding something fierce.

"Yer gonna need stitches." He told her, his voice softer than she expected as she just looked at him, words not coming to her mind.

"We need to stop the bleeding, girl." He added, carefully reaching out to grab her arms and pull her to her feet with him just as Beth broke away from her boyfriend and stumbled towards the fallen undead.

"Wait." Rick told the girl, reaching out for her but Beth pushed past him, grief overcoming her as she fell to her knees beside the body of a female walker that Amity assumed was once her step-mother. The girl shoved the body of another walker off of the female one, rolling her over as she sobbed.

"Momma-" She sobbed, but all at once the walker reanimated, its disgusting hands grasping at the girl just as everyone converged to get her to safety, her screams echoing across the farm.

"Pull her away!" Rick yelled, finally getting the blonde free just as Andrea came up and skewered the walker's skull with a scythe, ending the terror but not the Greene family's pain.

A touch on her cheek had a hiss of pain escaping Amity, her eyes turning to see that it was Daryl wiping away some of the blood with the rag he always kept in his back pocket before pressing it firmly against her wound.

"Don't be a pussy about it." He told her and Amity let out a laugh that was a mixture of a chuckle and a sob.

The pair followed the Greene family back towards their house, Amity wanted to wait and give the group time to grieve before bothering them but the man at her side wouldn't hear it. Rationally, she knew that she had to get the cut stitched and disinfected before she got an infection like T-Dog had, but her compassionate side wanted her to do otherwise.

She let Daryl keep her moving along, her mind still in a bit of shock with everything that had happened, grief weighing heavy in her chest. It seemed that everything couldn't just be left alone though as footsteps came up from behind them and Shane and Rick joined their little posse.

"We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along?" Shane growled at the farmer. "You knew."

"Leave us alone!" Maggie snapped at him.

"Hey, Shane, just stop, man." Rick implored the man, moving to guide him away from the family.

"Get your hands off me." Shane snapped in response, carrying on in a way that had Amity stepping closer to Daryl, her hand hovering protectively over her cheek as she kept pressure on it.

Hershel went to speak, perhaps to defend himself, but Shane was having none of it.

"You knew and you kept it from us." He declared.

"I didn't know." Hershel told him.

"That's bullshit! I think y'all knew."

"We didn't know!" Maggie snapped back at him.

"Why was she there?!" Shane asked in response.

"Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and- and put her in there before he was killed." Hershel tried to reason, coming to a stop just in front of the porch of his house.

"You expect me to believe that?" Shane asked, stepping into the man's space. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"

"Shane, hey hey hey." Rick tried to intervene.

"I don't care what you believe!" Hershel yelled and Amity was glad to see the older man wasn't letting Shane run him over.

"Everybody just calm down." Rick insisted.

"Get him off my land!" Hershel told him.

"Please. No." Rick pleaded, trying his best to keep the already out of hand situation from exploding further.

"Let me tell you something." Shane began, stepping up into Hershel's space and pressing a hand to his chest.

"Hey!" Maggie snapped, lunging forward and pushing the man back before her hand made sharp contact with his face. "Don't touch him!" She yelled.

Amity moved closer to the pair then as Glenn and Daryl did, ready to intervene if the man went after the farmer's daughter but it seemed that he at least had more sense than that.

"Haven't you done enough?" Maggie asked him, storming into the house.

"I mean it- off my land." Hershel restated before following his daughters.

Patricia hesitated on the porch, sad eyes landing on Amity and she beckoned the woman forward and up the steps, Daryl following as a constant protective presence just behind her.

"I think it's best that the least amount of you are near this house as possible right now." Patricia told the man, stopping at the front door as she looked back at him.

"I ain't leaving her to have y'all pour your anger out on-" Daryl began hotly, but Amity stopped him by placing a slender hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine, Dixon. Go find Carol for me... for you- she doesn't need to be alone." Amity told him, holding his gaze for a long moment before he finally nodded, taking a step back with his eyes still on her before turning and heading across the yard towards the RV.

"Come on into the kitchen with me, hun." Patricia said, breaking Amity out of her small daze so that she could follow the woman along and take a seat in one of the chairs.

"Move the rag." Patricia insisted and Amity did so, watching the woman's eyes to see how bad it was, but Patricia wasn't the type to sugarcoat things for her anyways.

"It's a nasty gash- not clean cut at all." She told her, grabbing a wet cloth and began to wipe away the excess blood the best she could. "It's going to need a few stitches... and it's most likely gonna scar."

At that revelation Amity sighed but held her tongue, it wasn't the time or place to hold vanity to any kind of standard. She just hated that every time she or someone else looked at her face, they would be reminded of all that had happened that day.

"Stitch me up then, doc- I want to get out to help with everything." Amity told her, using a bit of humor to hide what she was feeling, and the woman nodded, her lips pressing together tightly before she began.

Twenty minutes later, Amity was heading back down to the barn, her blue eyes guarded as she took in the bodies all over the ground and the people who stood around. She went to T-Dog's side, the large man placing a comforting hand on her shoulder before he spoke.

"You want us to start burying?" He asked Rick.

"We need a service." Andrea cut in. "Carol would want that."

"Yeah, we all want that." T-Dog agreed.

"Let's- let's dig a grave for Sophia, and Annette and Shawn, uh, over by those trees." Lori said after a moment's pause. "And we'll need a truck to move the bodies."

"I'll get the keys." Jimmy said, moving forward to do so but Shane stopped him.

"No no." He said, before heading off. "I got the truck."

"And the others?" Jimmy asked. "That's a lot of digging."

"We bury the ones we love and burn the rest." Amity said, all eyes turning to her for a long moment and she knew they were looking at the large bandage that covered her cheek.

"Let's get to work." Lori said then, breaking the silence as everyone began moving.

Amity immediately went over to Sophia's side, seeing that someone had taken the time to cover the little girl's body with a blanket- an action that Amity appreciated more than anything in that moment.

She didn't know if she could handle seeing the bullet hole in her head or the bite on her shoulder. She didn't know if she could keep it together if she had to see her like that again.

"It's not your fault... you know that right?" Andrea said, coming up beside of her and resting a hand on her back.

Amity looked at the small body under the blankets before turning cold blue eyes to the blonde woman, shaking her head in response.

"I promised Carol I'd find her- that I wouldn't stop until I did." She whispered, her voice breaking a bit.

"You did find her... we all did." Andrea told her. "It might not have been how we wanted, but at least now we know. You can stop now- you need to stop."

At that, Amity was torn between falling into the other woman's arms and sobbing against her or standing and getting back to work. After a moment of steeling herself against the pain that lingered in her chest, Amity chose the latter and stood, moving away from Sophia's body to grab one of the other dead walkers and begin piling them up where they could put them in the truck.

Only once the holes were dug and the bodies of their loved ones were moved did Amity head off to find Carol. She went to the RV first, assuming she was in there and met a familiar pair of Georgia blues as she entered the vehicle.

"They're ready." Amity told the pair, her voice gentle. She watched as Carol lightly shook her head at her, barely glancing her way.

"Come on." She said again, trying to get the woman up and moving.

"Why?" Carol asked suddenly, catching Amity off guard and she found that she didn't have the words to respond.

"'Cause that's yer little girl." Daryl said, cutting in.

"That's not my little girl." Carol told him, shaking her head as she looked out the window of the RV. "That's some other thing. My Sophia was alone in the woods." She continued, her words having Amity's eyes being drawn to her feet out of guilt. "All this time I thought... but she didn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't go hungry. She didn't try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago."

Amity looked to Daryl, watching the man's jaw jump as he looked at Carol, the pain and anger on his face evident as he let out a small scoff and pushed himself to his feet, moving past Amity and out of the RV then.

"We'll be over by the grove... if you want to join." Amity told the woman and when she received no response she backed down the steps, wanting to give the woman some space to grieve.

Once out of the RV, Amity turned and picked up her pace so that she could catch up with Daryl.

"What'd they say about yer face?" He asked, his voice a low grumble.

"I just had to get a couple of stitches like you said... Patricia said it's going to scar though." She revealed, shaking her head a bit.

Daryl's shoulders seemed to tense at that, anger clear in the lines of his body.

"Hey, it's alright, Dixon. Don't get your panties in a twist over the loss of my pretty face." Amity told him, trying to keep her voice light to diffuse the situation.

The man rounded on her, surprising Amity as they both came to a stop.

"It ain't alright!" He snapped at her. "Is that all ya know how to say? This is okay, that's okay- it's all bullshit! Ya got yerself knocked around and scarred up by a psycho, the little girl is dead, and yer getting on my damned nerves!" He yelled.

Amity looked at him with a bit of shock and bit back her temper that threatened to flare up and consume her. He was hurting. She knew he was hurting. She wasn't going to let him make her snap back, but she also wasn't going to let him take his anger and pain out on her.

No, Shane had already done that.

The redhead pushed past her tent mate without a second glance, heading up towards the grave sites to join the rest of their group for the quick service for Sophia, Anette, and Shawn. Amity was a bit disappointed that Carol never joined them, but she knew the woman had her reasons.

After the ceremony, blue eyes followed Daryl as he stormed off into the woods, his crossbow over his shoulder. She debated with herself for a moment on whether to go after him or not, but she knew that she would be wanting her space if she took the time to go off and so she would give him his.

Instead she returned to the house with Beth, Maggie, and Glenn, her arm resting lightly across the shoulders of the young blonde as they climbed the steps to the house. She followed her into the kitchen and once she began to wash up dishes, Amity moved to join her- taking the rinsed plates and drying them off before setting them aside on a drying rack to finish the process.

The redhead was trying her best not to listen in on Glenn and Maggie's conversation in the next room when suddenly Beth collapsed next to her.

"Maggie!" She yelled out, falling to her knees next to the blonde girl and trying her best to steady the washing tub that the girl threatened to pull down on top of her.

Maggie immediately sprinted into the room, panic clear on her face.

"What happened?" Maggie asked her and Amity shook her head.

"I don't know! She just collapsed!" She explained and together Maggie and Glenn got Beth up and into her room, laying her on the bed.

Glenn and Amity both stood to the side while Maggie hovered over her sister, only looking up from her once Lori entered the room.

"What's wrong with her?" Lori asked them.

"She might be in shock." Amity said softly, looking between the two women.

"Where's Hershel?" Lori questioned and the trio shrugged.

"We can't find him anywhere." Glenn told her.

Lori left the room and returned with Rick and Shane a few moments later, the men leading the way to Hershel's room before they began to dig through his things, trying to find a hint about where he went.

"Your stepmother's things?" Rick wondered, looking at the more feminine things in the room.

"He was so sure she'd recover." Maggie explained. "That they'd just pick up where they left off."

Amity's heart went out to the older man, even if he was misled, it was out of love.

"Looks like he found an old friend." Shane piped up, tossing a metal flask to Rick.

"That belonged to my grandfather, gave it to dad when he died." Maggie told them.

"I didn't take Hershel for a drinker." Rick said, looking the flask over.

"No, he gave it up on the day I was born. He didn't even allow liquor in the house." Maggie revealed.

"What's the bar in town?" Amity wondered, picking up the obvious hesitance of a previous addict.

"Hatlin's. He practically lived there in his drinking days." Maggie told her.

"Betting that's where I'll find him." Rick said.

"Yeah, I've seen the place." Glenn cut in. "I'll take you."

"I'll come too." Amity added and the men in the room all exchanged looks.

"I'm barely injured, not useless." She snapped, cutting eyes at Shane specifically as if daring him to tell her she should stay back due to the injury _he_ gave her.

"Alright, I'll get the truck." Rick said finally, conceding to letting her tag along.

"Okay." Glenn agreed but Maggie cut in front of him.

"N-no." She protested.

"It's an easy run." Glenn insisted.

"Like the pharmacy?" Maggie retorted, and Amity really wanted to leave the room in that moment but Rick was standing in her way.

"Hey, Maggie?" He said, gaining the woman's attention. "I'll bring him back." He promised.

"Yeah, Mags. I won't let anything happen to Glenny." Amity added with a smile before following Rick out of the room as Glenn tried to convince Maggie that he would be fine.

"Rick?" Lori's voice sounded from behind the pair, making them both stop. "You want to have a conversation about this before you leave?"

"So you're seriously gonna go after this guy with everything that's going on, huh? " Shane added, joining the conversation, making Amity tense considerably.

"He's right." Lori agreed with the man and Amity couldn't help but shake her head, leaning back against the wall of the hallway.

"This is not the time to head off, not today. You don't always have to-" She began, but Rick cut her off.

"I'm not arguing." He said firmly. "It's the least I can do for Hershel after we-"

"What?" Shane interjected. "After we what?"

"After we slaughtered what were people to him in front of his entire family." Amity said, cutting in. "After we disobeyed and disrespected him on his own land. After you went off the deep end!" She snapped, but Rick was already turning her away and pushing her gently down the hall.

"Leave it, Amity. Go get the truck." He told her and the redhead hesitated only a moment before listening to him and heading outside.

It wasn't long before Rick joined her as she was adjusting her bow on her shoulder, giving her weapons a quick rundown to make sure they were still in good working order.

"You ready?" She asked the man as he approached.

"Just waiting on Glenn." He told her, giving a pointed glance back to the house where Glenn and Maggie were saying a rather intimate good-bye.

"Gotcha." Amity said with an amused shake of her head, climbing into the back of the vehicle and stretching out across the seat while Glenn climbed in the passenger side door.

"Y'all are just precious." Amity said from the backseat as Rick started the car and pulled out of the driveway. She had been waiting for the chance to tease Glenn about Maggie and here it was. "The cupcake phase is always obnoxiously adorable in a way."

"Maggie said she loves me." Glenn said suddenly, cutting across Amity's attempts of teasing him.

The redhead fell silent, not expecting that, but Rick just nodded his head.

"Mm-hmm."

"She doesn't mean it." Glenn said simply. "I mean, she can't. I mean- well... s-she's upset or confused." He tried to reason. "She's probably feeling, like-"

"I think she's smart enough to know what she's feeling." Rick cut in and Amity nodded.

"No. No." Glenn disagreed, pulling a chuckle from Rick as Amity just moved forward to lean her elbows on the back of Rick's seat so she could better look at Glenn.

"No, you know what? She wants to be in love, so she's- she needs something to- to, like- to hold onto." Glenn went on.

"Glenn, it's pretty obvious to everyone Maggie loves you, and not just because you're one of the last men standing." Rick told the younger man.

"So what's the problem?" Amity asked and Glenn hesitated a moment.

"I didn't say it back." He admitted.

"Oh goodness." Amity said quietly and Glenn shot her a panicked look.

"I've just never had a woman say that to me before- except my mom, of course, and my sisters." He defended. "B-but with Maggie, it's different. We barely know each other. What- what does she really know about me?" He asked before answering his own question, trying to make a point. "Nothing. We're practically strangers. But I- I didn't know what to do with it. I just stood there like a jerk."

"Hey." Rick said, getting the man's attention. "Hey, this is a good thing, something we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it and when we get back, return the favor. It's not like she's going anywhere."

"It's okay to not know what to do in that situation, Glenn- it's a big thing. At least you didn't respond with 'I love cake' or something." Amity told him, not being able to resist the reference that seemed to fall flat with the other two in the car, leaving her frowning at the back of their heads.

"Rick?" Glenn said as they came to a stop in the town. "I know about Lori- her being pregnant."

"What?" Amity said, her voice a squeak and Glenn turned around to look at her with wide eyes as if he had forgotten that she was there before looking back to Rick.

"It's fine." Rick reassured him, glancing back at Amity as well.

"Why didn't y'all say anything?" She asked them both but Rick just shook his head.

"We wanted to wait." He told her and the woman paused before nodding. It was their news so she figured that was fair enough.

"I'd appreciate it if you kept it to yourself as well." Rick added and Amity nodded once more before climbing out of the car.

"Hey, I'm sorry I kept it from you." Glenn was saying to Rick as he got out of the car as well a moment later, Amity apparently having had missed a bit of the conversation.

"Don't be." Rick told him. "You did what you thought was right. It just so happens it wasn't."

Amity left the men to their devices as she walked ahead of them, her bow up and ready to be drawn back at the first sign of any danger.

* * *

Lori strode across the field from the house, her sights set on the figure in the distance that was sat beside the ruins of an old stone house.

"Moving to the suburbs?" The woman called out as she approached, squatting down to be eye-level with the man she had been looking for.

"Listen, Beth's in some kind of catatonic shock." She explained. "We need Hershel."

"Yeah." The man replied, his voice a low mutter. "So what?"

"So I need you to run into town real quick and bring him and Rick back." Lori told him, waiting a moment for a response but being met with nothing but silence.

"Daryl?" She insisted.

"Your bitch went window-shopping. You want him? Fetch him yourself." He told her, his knife scraping against the wood of the stick in his hand. "I got better things to do."

"What's the matter with you?" Lori asked him "Why would you be so selfish?"

"Selfish?" Daryl echoed, anger flaring as he stood to face the woman. "Listen to me, Olive Oyl. I's out there looking for that little girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process." He reminded her. "Don't you tell me about me getting my hands dirty! You want those two idiots? Have a nice ride. I'm done lookin' for people."

"Amity went with him." Lori said only a second after his outburst, giving it one last try.

"What?" Daryl asked, moving a step closer to her.

"Amity- she went with Rick and Glenn into town to find Hershel." Lori clarified.

Daryl stood still a moment, his mind racing before he stalked back and forth just in front of the brunette woman.

"So what? If the damned woman wants to get herself killed then let her! Damned girl's got herself a death wish anyway." He spat, moving back to where he had been sitting before, the knife in his hand trembling a bit as he rested it against the stick, not bringing himself to continue working on the arrow he was crafting.

"I'm done lookin' for people." He muttered to himself as Lori stalked away from him and back towards the house.

* * *

"Hershel." Rick called out as they entered the bar, closing the doors behind them after they spotted the old man sat at the bar.

"Who's with you?" Hershel asked, not even bothering to look back at them.

"Glenn and Amity." Rick told him.

"Maggie sent them?"

"No, they volunteered. They're good like that." Rick explained. "How many have you had?"

"Not enough."

"Let's finish this up back at home. Beth collapsed and is in some sort of state. Must be in shock. I think you are too." Rick told the older man, leaning against the bar next to him.

"Maggie's with her?"

"Yeah, but Beth needs you."

"What could I do? She needs her mother- or rather to mourn like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now." Hershel told him, sounding broken in a way that had Amity shifting uncomfortably.

"You thought there was a cure." Rick insisted. "Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope."

"Hope?" Hershel echoed, scoffing. "When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive."

"But he did." Rick insisted.

"He did." Hershel agreed. "Even though we lost Otis. Your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist." He said, his voice raising a bit, causing Amity to look back at the doors and windows warily. "Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was a fool, Rick, and you people saw that."

Silence hung in the air for a long moment and Amity exchanged a look with Glenn.

"My daughters deserve better than that." Hershel said finally before finishing off his drink and pouring him another. Amity moved forward, rounding the bar so that she could peruse the selection the place had to offer.

Her fingertips danced across dusty glass bottles, her eyes scanning the labels as she looked over what she thought would be good to take back, maybe as a gift but maybe just for her to hold on to.

Rick and Glenn both moved back to the door, having a whispered conversation while Amity chose a bottle of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey Whiskey and leaned against the counter.

"So what do we do? Just wait for him to pass out?" Glenn asked Rick.

"Just go!" Hershel yelled over his shoulder at them.

"I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe." Rick told him.

"Like you promised that little girl?" Hershel asked him, a bitter chuckle leaving him and Amity twisted the cap off the bottle in her hands at that, bringing it to her lips.

"So what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?" Rick asked the older man, crossing the bar towards him.

"Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm." Hershel snapped, rising to his feet. "You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!

"The world was already in bad shape when we met." Rick argued.

"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader!" Hershel yelled.

Amity rested her bow on the bar top, putting it in easy reach if she needed it as there was no telling what the men's yelling would attract. She wasn't wanting to be an active participant in this conversation until she absolutely had to be. She didn't think highly of the man drinking away his sorrows while his family needed him, but she knew people handled things differently.

She would help if she had to, but until then she would just let Rick take the reins.

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" Rick shot back.

"Yes. Yes, you are." Hershel said, his voice tight as he moved back to the bar and sat back down.

"Now come on." Rick told him, tugging on his arm. "Your girls need you now more than ever."

"I didn't want to believe you!" Hershel said loudly, pulling his arm from Rick's grasp. "You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that, but when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming- that's when I knew what an ass I'd been. That Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding a rotten corpse! That's when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face- I knew you knew it too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do. Don't you?"

Rick looked between Glenn and Amity, seeing their eyes on him as they waited for his response.

"There is no hope for any of us." Hershel said again.

"I'm not doing this anymore- cleaning up after you." Rick told the man after a moment. "You know what the truth is? _Nothing has changed._ Death is death. It's always been there, whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you?" Rick asked. "Now there are people back at home trying to hang on. They need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on, even if we don't believe it ourselves."

"You know what?" Rick said, taking a moment. "This- this isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them."

Hershel stared down at the bar for a moment, before nodding his head and throwing back the last bit of his drink. He sat the glass down on the bar topside down and moved to stand, making Amity smile as she snatched her bow off the counter, leaving behind the whiskey she found, ready to get out of this town and back to the farm.

The sound of the front doors opening had her looking to Glenn, spotting him a ways away from the door so her bow raised automatically as two men wandered inside, looking at them with surprise.

"Son of a bitch." One of them cursed. "They're alive."

Amity watched the men with cautious eyes as they made their way further into the bar, immediately making themselves comfortable around one of the tables. Rick had put a hand on Amity's wrist as they approached, causing her to lower her bow which she thought was a stupid choice- but she trusted Rick.

"I'm Dave." The skinner man announced. "That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony." He added, gesturing to his larger companion.

"Eat me, Dave." Tony said in response.

"Hey, maybe someday I will." Dave quipped back. "We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was." He explained.

"I'm Glenn." Glenn chimed in from his place next to Amity, a smile on his face. "It's nice to meet some new people."

Amity wasn't sure she agreed with that.

"Rick Grimes." Rick introduced himself.

"How about you, pal? Have one?" Dave asked Hershel before offering the man a shot of the liquor he had just poured.

"I just quit." The farmer responded to the gesture.

"You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend." The man said back, trying to keep the mood light apparently.

Amity felt eyes on her and turned to see the larger man eyeing her up in a way that made her skin crawl. She looked between him and his friend, shifting a step closer to Glenn as she white-knuckled her bow.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Tony asked then, his eyes still on Amity who just looked back at him without a word.

"What happened to your face?" Dave added, looking at the bandage that covered her cheek.

"Her name is Amity and he's Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them." Rick answered at one of the men's questions, trying to keep the peace between them though Amity wasn't sure that was going to happen. Both of the men in front of them had bad vibes rolling off them in waves.

There was a moment of silence before Dave spoke again, seeming to be the mouthpiece of the pair.

"I'm truly sorry to hear that." He offered, before raising a shot up in toast. "To better days and new friends and to our dead- may they be in a better place."

With that the majority of the group took a shot save for Hershel and herself.

"Don't drink, little red?" Tony asked her and Amity raised a brow at the nickname.

"You know in some of the earlier versions of Little Red Riding hood, the girl kills the wolf." Amity told him with a sharp smile, causing the man to shift uncomfortably, his eyes looking to his companion.

Dave, however, seemed to be focused on Rick, who had spotted the gun he was carrying.

"Not bad, huh?" Dave said, pulling out the gun to show it to them. "I got it off a cop."

"I'm a cop." Rick told him.

"This one was already dead." Dave said with a small smile that wasn't really appropriate.

"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia." Rick said, trying to break the tension.

"It feels like we're a long way from anywhere." Dave told him.

"Well, what drove you south?" Rick asked.

"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped thirty pounds in sweat alone down here." The man complained.

"I wish." Tony quipped, giving a small chuckle.

"No, first it was D.C.. We heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways and into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing." Dave told them.

"One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the gulf, sending ferries to the islands." Tony added.

"The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country- Kansas, Nebraska." Dave said with a nod.

"Nebraska?" Glenn asked, sounding confused.

"Low population, lots of guns." Tony explained.

"Kinda makes sense." Glenn agreed then.

"Ever been to Nebraska, kid? A reason they call 'em Flyover States." Dave told him, pulling a wheezing laugh out of Tony which had Amity nearly rolling her eyes.

"How about you guys?" Dave wondered, his eyes flickering to his companion's for a moment.

"Fort Benning, eventually." Rick replied.

"I hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but we ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains." Dave said, his voice low.

"Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?" Glenn asked.

"Sadly, I am." Dave told him with a nod of his head. "Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep."

"If you sleep." Tony interjected.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here." Dave said suddenly, sounding like he had been waiting for the moment to say something about it. "You holed up somewhere else?"

"Not really." Rick told him slowly.

"Those your cars out front?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, why?" Glenn replied, too at ease with the men which had Amity nudging his foot lightly with her own, giving him a pointed look when he met her gaze.

"We're living in ours. Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?" Dave asked, his eyes jumping between the four of them.

"We're with a larger group out scouting, thought we could use a drink." Hershel covered.

"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit." Dave said, not sounding convinced. "Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is it safe?"

"It can be, although I have killed a couple of walkers around here." Glenn answered, pulling his eyes from Amity who was still trying to get her message across to him that it wouldn't hurt him to be a little _less_ friendly.

"Walkers? That what you call them?" Dave asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah." Glenn confirmed, letting out a small laugh.

"That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains." Dave told them.

"More succinct." Tony added.

"Okay, Tony went to college." Dave said, taunting the man.

"Two years." Tony defended, like it was something to be ashamed of, but with how the conversation was going, maybe it was to them. Intelligence didn't seem to be the large man's strong point or he would have stopped leering at the redhead from the moment she wouldn't tell him her name.

An awkward silence settled over the bar, Amity shifting a bit on the balls of her feet. She wanted nothing more to be out of this situation and back in her tent, sleeping and hopefully getting another dose of painkillers since her cheek was killing her.

"So what- you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development?" Dave wondered.

"Trailer park or something? A farm?" Tony asked, crossing the room for some reason.

" _Old McDonald had a farm._ " Dave sang and Tony laughed. "You got a farm? _E-i-e-i-o._ "

It was then that the sound of running water hit Amity's ears and she realized that Tony had went to the corner to relieve himself inside of the building like a poorly trained animal.

She let out a scoff of disgust, shaking her head and noticed Dave looking at her with an amused smile.

"Is it safe?" Tony asked from where he stood.

"It's gotta be." Dave reasoned. "You got food, water?"

"You got any more cooze?" Tony asked as he zipped up his pants, turning around to look at them, his eyes resting on Amity. "Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks."

Amity all but bared her teeth at him then, itching to send an arrow flying into his ass, but she wouldn't move and start a fight that her friends would get caught up in as well. She noticed Rick tensing though, moving to block the redhead from Tony's sight. It was something that Dave spotted as well.

"Listen, pardon my friend." He began, trying to soothe the situation. "City kids- they got no tact. No disrespect." He insisted before turning to look at Glenn.

"So listen, Glenn-"

"We've said enough." Rick cut him off.

"Well, hang on a second. This farm, it sounds pretty sweet- don't it sound sweet, Tony?" Dave continued.

"Yeah, real sweet." Tony confirmed, wandering closer.

"How about a little southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We can pool our resources, our manpower." Dave said, his voice smooth as he tried to convince them.

"Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option." Rick told him and Dave paused, laughing lightly to himself.

"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem." He told them all.

"I'm sorry. We can't." Hershel said.

"We can't take in any more." Rick confirmed.

"You guys are something else. I thought we were friends." Dave began.

"We don't know you." Amity cut in.

"We got people we gotta look out for too." Dave told her.

"We don't know anything about you." Rick said, echoing Amity to make a point.

"No, that's true. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right?" Tony asked Rick, trying to appeal to their compassion, to put them on the same level so they saw them as someone to take in, someone like themselves.

Amity knew the trick, she saw it clearly. It's what you did when you wanted someone to relate with you, you offered up similar stories, you spoke at the same pace they did and used the same slang. It built a connection.

"Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's- let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other." Dave finished.

"That's not gonna happen." Rick said again.

"This is bullshit!" Tony snapped.

"Calm down." Rick told the man.

"Don't tell me to calm down." Tony spat back, immediately on the defensive. "Don't ever tell me to calm down."

"I'll shoot you three assholes in the head and take your damn farm, take this ginger bitch too!" Tony yelled and Rick stepped forward, going for the man as Amity raised her bow, Glenn moving back towards her protectively.

They would take the farm over her dead body.

"Whoa whoa whoa." Dave called out, rushing to his feet as well to try to diffuse the situation.

"Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's taking anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody." He told everyone before heading to the bar and climbing over the counter. "Right, Rick? Look." He said, taking his gun and laying it on the bar top as a show of good faith, but Amity didn't buy it.

It was just lucky for them, unlucky for the two other men, that they didn't take an arrow pointed at them as the same level of threat as a gun. Stupid mistake really, a death blow is a death blow.

"We're just friends having a drink. That's all." Dave insisted before he ducked down below the bar. "Now where's the good stuff, huh? Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. Let's see."

The man froze as Rick's hand went to his gun, resting on the holster as Dave's hand had landed near his gun on the counter as he squatted down. Rick was on edge and Amity shared the feeling- she had since the moment the guys walked in the door.

"Hey, look at that." Dave said, pulling out a bottle after deciding Rick wasn't going to blow his head off. "That'll work."

"You gotta understand-" The man was saying as he poured some of whatever he found into a glass. "We can't stay out there. You know what it's like."

"Yeah, I do, but the farm is too crowded as is." Rick said in response. "You'll have to keep looking."

"Keep looking." Dave echoed with a shake of his head. "And where do you suggest we do that?"

"I don't know. I hear Nebraska's nice." Rick said, seeming to not want to play peacekeeper anymore.

"Nebraska." Dave repeated, laughing lightly. "This guy."

The man leapt for his gun but Rick was faster. A shot rang out through the bar just as Amity let her arrow fly, skewering Tony, who had been fumbling with his gun, straight through the heart.

Rick whipped around, pulling the trigger of his gun once more and sending a shot through the large man's head, apparently wanting to make sure that he'd stay down though Amity had gotten him through the heart.

"You alright?" Rick asked them once the four had converged around the body of Tony, looking down at him.

"Yeah." Glenn said and Amity nodded once their leader's eyes turned to her.

"Hershel?" He asked the older man and there was a long beat of silence before he finally gave a small nod.

"Let's head back." Hershel suggested.

Amity stepped forward then, leaning down to reach under the fallen man to grab her arrow that had come through the other side, she braced a foot on the large man's side before she pulled it through, wiping the blood off with a bar rag as Rick searched the body.

The woman was focusing hard on not thinking about the man that she had just murdered- skewered through the heart like a kabob. She knew she had to do it, she knew what he would have tried to do to her and to the rest of the people on the farm if she hadn't, but that didn't make her feel any less sick to her stomach.

She was almost at the front doors when the sound of a car approaching had them all freezing.

"Car." Rick hissed, rushing across the bar to them. "Get down!" He ordered and Amity did so, pressing herself along the wall between a couple of covered windows.

"Dave? Tony?" A man's voice called out. "They said over here?"

"Yeah." Another man confirmed.

"I'm telling you, man, I heard shots." A third said and Amity noticed her hands were shaking.

"I saw roamers two streets over, might be more around here." One of them reasoned.

"It's hot. We gotta get out of here." Another said, his voice low.

"Dave! Tony!" One yelled out before hushed by his companion.

"Shut up, you idiot! You wanna attract 'em? Just stick close. We're gonna find 'em."

One of them lingered around the bar as the other two started to head away, Amity saw the shadow he cast across the window and she silently shifted her bow over her shoulder, pulling her gun from its place on her belt.

"Dude, he said to stay close." One of the men reprimanded the one that lingered before they both began to move away.

The men didn't go far though, they continued making laps around the town while the four people stuck in the bar periodically peered out the window at them, checking their location. Amity moved silently over to Glenn and Hershel as Rick did, all of them holding a mini campfire session.

"Why won't they leave?" Glenn asked, his voice a panicked whisper.

"Would you?" Hershel countered just as quietly.

"We can't sit here any longer." Amity told them, pushing a hand through her wild hair.

"Let's head out the back and make a run to the car." Rick suggested and the group nodded, standing to move but dropping back down below the windows at the sound of a gun being shot.

"What happened?" One of the voices from outside asked.

"Roamers, I nailed 'em." The other explained.

"They disappeared but their car's still there." One said.

"I cleared those buildings." The other explained.

"You guys get this one?" The apparent leader asked.

"No."

"Me neither."

"We're looking for Dave and Tony and no one checks the damn bar?" The leader said, sounding exasperated as they approached, their footsteps echoing off the wood porch. Amity tensed and cocked her gun back as Rick did, ready to fire as the men entered the bar, but as soon as the door was pushed open Glenn dove for it and shoved it closed, leaning heavily against it.

"What?" One of the men asked, sounding confused.

"Someone pushed it shut. There's someone in there." The other reasoned.

"Yo, is someone in there?" The leader called out. "Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble. We're just looking for our friends."

"What do we do?" One of the men whispered.

"Bum rush the door?" The other suggested.

"No, we don't know how many are there." The leader insisted. "Just relax."

"We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for our friends. If something happened, tell us." The leader said loudly, obviously talking to them now. "This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed, I'd appreciate it."

"Dude, you're bugging. I'm telling you nobody's in there."

"Someone grabbed the door."

"If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."

It sounded like the men were walking away, perhaps trying to get at the bar from another angle but Rick called out then, halting their departure.

"They drew on us!" He called out, Amity giving him a look that clearly let him know she thought he was insane.

"Dave and Tony in there?" One of the men asked. "They alive?"

"No." Rick admitted.

"They killed Dave and Tony!"

"Come on, man, let's go."

"No, I'm not leaving, I'm not telling Jane. I'm not gonna go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar."

"Your friends drew on us!" Rick called out, interrupting the arguing group. "They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've all lost enough people, done things we wish we didn't have to, but it's like that now. You know that! So let's just chalk this up to what it was wrong place, wrong-"

He was cut off by a shotgun firing, blasting out one of the windows as more gunshots followed after.

"Shit!" Amity cursed, ducking down low and crawling across the floor away from the windows.

"Get outta here!" Rick yelled at them as he stood, returning fire out the window. "Go!"

Glenna and Hershel ran for the bar, Amity already being halfway there but at the sight of Rick taking a stand alone, the woman returned to the windows, firing a couple times outside.

* * *

Another figure was making the trek from the house across the field to the ruins of an old stone building in search of Daryl.

"We can't find Lori." Carol called over to the man, stopping a few steps away from the man who was sat by a fire he had made. "And the others aren't back yet either."

Daryl stayed quite for a moment, holding on tight to the bravado that he didn't care what was going on with everyone else. "Yeah, that dumb bitch must've gone off looking for 'em." He said finally.

"What?" Carol asked.

"Yeah, she asked me to go. I told her I was done being an errand boy." Daryl explained, poking at the fire in front of him with a large stick.

"And you didn't say anything?" She questioned, waiting for a response but not getting one from the man. She went to walk away, only getting a couple of steps before she stopped and turned back to look at him.

"Don't do this." She said, coming back over to the fire. "Please. I've already lost my girl."

At that Daryl stood, looking at the woman with narrowed eyes before he brushed past her.

"That wasn't my problem neither."

* * *

"Hey!" Rick called out as he quietly reloaded his gun, Amity doing the same from her place braced against the wall on the other side of the door. "We all know this is not gonna end well! There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just just back off, no one else gets hurt!"

He finished loading his gun, shutting it with a click just before the sound of bottles rattling in the backroom was heard. Rick and Amity exchanged a look before Rick caught Glenn's gaze, nodding towards the backroom. Glenn hesitated, taking a deep breath before quickly and quietly running across the bar and down to the backroom from which the noises came.

Amity watched the door he disappeared through with worry in her gaze, her body tense as she readied herself to spring to action and run into the room if needed.

There was a long moment of silence before a shot ran out and Amity was halfway up onto her feet before Rick held out a hand her way, stilling her.

"Glenn! Glenn!" He called towards the room.

"I'm alright!" Glenn called back, the sound of his voice relieving Amity. "I'm alright."

Amity and Rick moved then, making their way over to Hershel and pausing behind one of the walls.

"I'll hold 'em here." Rick told the pair. "You both cover Glenn. See if you can make it to your car, Hershel. Tell him to pull up back. We'll run for it, get the hell out of here."

Amity nodded immediately, moving to join Glenn in the backroom and assuming that Hershel would follow.

She came down the steps, wincing at the loud creaking they made until Glenn whipped around and pointed his shotgun at her chest, her hands raising above her head immediately.

"Sorry." Glenn apologized, letting out a heavy sigh. "Sorry."

"Rick wants you to try for the car." Hershel told the young man as he came down the stairs to join them as well.

"Try?" Glenn reiterated.

"You'll try and succeed." Hershel told him firmly. "We'll cover you."

"That's a _great_ plan."

With that, the trio moved to the door, Hershel and Amity were both only a step behind Glenn so once the boy took off running, Amity jumped out to cover him. A shot rang out and then another, the second from Hershel's gun as he dropped the man who had shot at Glenn.

Amity saw the young man fall behind the dumpster, but since then there had been no sign of him moving.

"What happened?" Rick asked, coming up behind them.

"He fired." Amity explained, gesturing at the man writhing in pain on the ground nearby.

"He must've hit Glenn. He's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving." Hershel told him.

Rick immediately moved out into the alleyway, a gun trained at either direction as he stalked his way towards Glenn.

"You hit?" He asked, whispering loudly.

"Are you hit?" He repeated upon receiving no response.

"No." Glenn finally answered and Amity moved upon hearing his voice, creeping along the alleyway to join the pair. "No."

"It's all right. The car's right there." Rick told both of them. "We're almost home. You good?" He asked, eyes on Glenn who seemed to have panicked.

"I'm good." Glenn confirmed.

"Let's go." Rick told them and they shot out of their hiding place, guns drawn, but were immediately sent back behind the dumpster as someone started shooting at them.

From their cover they watched as the boy on the roof, the one who had been shooting looked down at a large truck that pulled up alongside the building he was standing on.

"Let's get out of here! Roamers all over the place! Hurry up!" The man in the truck yelled to him. "We gotta get out of here!"

"What about Sean?" The boy asked.

"They shot him. We gotta go! Roamers are everywhere."

"We're leaving?"

"Jump!" The man in the truck insisted and the boy went to the edge of the building, hesitating. "Hurry up, jump already!"

The boy paused only a moment longer before leaping from the roof he was on to the slanted metal roof on the building next to it. He hit hard as he landed and slid down the steep angle of the roof and out of sight. His screams echoed through the town only a moment later.

"Dude didn't make it." Glenn said quietly.

"Help me! Help- help me!" The boy screamed from where he had fallen but his group member didn't get out of the truck.

"I've gotta go. I've gotta go." The man in the truck yelled to him. "I'm sorry!"

With a squeal of his tires, the man in the truck was gone, leaving his apparently injured group member behind.

"Get Hershel." Rick told Glenn, gesturing for Amity to follow him along and she did so, jogging to keep pace with the former sheriff as they made their way to where the boy had fallen.

The pair came across the boy fairly quickly having followed his screams and Amity felt her stomach lurch at the sight of his leg that was impaled on an ornate metal fence.

"Rick!" Hershel called over the sobs of the boy. "We have to go now."

"No!" The boy pleaded.

"Shh!" Rick hushed the injured boy as Amity moved closer to him, resting a hand on his thigh as she looked at the wound.

"Fuck." She cursed, taking in the sight of the wound.

"I'm sorry, son. We have to go." Hershel told the boy, as if that would make the situation less terrible.

"No no, don't leave me- please." The kid begged, reaching out and grabbing Amity's hand that was on his leg, clinging on to it for dear life.

"We have to go." Glenn insisted.

"We can't." Amity said, looking at the boy who was still pleading with them to save him.

"He was just shooting at us!" Glenn reminded them heatedly.

"He's a kid." Rick shot back.

"This place is crawling with walkers!" Glenn said sharply.

"We can't leave him!" Amity insisted.

"The fence went clean through." Hershel told the trio, looking at the boy's leg now. "There's no way we can get the leg off in one piece."

The boy let out another pained screamed as Rick shook the fence to see if it would budge, his hand tightening around Amity's and making the woman let out a hiss as she tried to tug her hand away but to no avail.

"Shut up!" Rick told the boy. "Shut up or I will shoot you!"

"That may be the answer." Hershel said, stepping away with Rick- Amity unable to follow due to the vice grip that she couldn't seem to get out of. She wondered if this is what men felt like when holding their wives' hands as they gave birth. "We're not gonna get that leg off without tearing the muscle to shreds. He certainly can't run. He may bleed out." She heard Hershel say.

"Shut up." Glenn told the boy, grabbing his leg and making him scream. Glenn flinched at that, guilt showing automatically on his face as he began to shush the boy. "I'm sorry. Sh-shut up."

"Maybe we should put him down." Hershel suggested. "I don't wanna see any more killing, but this is cruel."

"Can't we just take the leg off?" Amity asked, the three men looking at her with varying levels of shock and revelation.

"That hatchet still in the car?" Rick asked and Glenn shook his head.

"No no, don't! Don't cut my leg off, please." The boy begged them, sitting up and reaching for Amity's shoulder but the woman ducked out of his reach before he could get a better hold on her than he already had.

"Will this cut through the bone?" Rick asked Hershel, flicking open the knife he carried.

"I'll have to sever the ligaments below the kneecap, cut above the tibia he's going to lose his lower leg." Hershel explained, taking off his over shirt. "When we get clear of here, we're gonna have to find some tinder, cauterize the wound so he doesn't bleed out."

"Alright, no choice." Rick said, telling him to go ahead and do it.

"Oh God, oh God." The boy groaned.

"Guys, walkers!" Glenn yelled from down the alley and Amity finally wrenched her hand free of the boy's death grip, running to join Glenn at the entrance of the alleyway, shooting the walkers leading the pack.

"They're everywhere." Amity called back where Hershel and Rick were.

"Hershel, how we doing over there?" Rick yelled in return while the boy's pleads and sobs still echoed through the space, accented by the growling of the walker horde heading their way.

"Come on, we gotta go!" Glenn yelled, grabbing Amity's arm as he ran back into the alley.

"I'm almost out of ammo!" Amity said, shooting once more as she was dragged away.

"We don't have much time! Come on, we've gotta go! Can't hold 'em off!" Glenn yelled.

"Hershel, do it now!" Rick urged the older man.

"There is no time!" Hershel told them.

"Hershel, come on!" Glenn said then, getting the older man to move away from the skewered boy and towards the car.

"Please don't leave me! Please! No! Please don't leave me! Please! Please don't leave me!" The boy begged, his pleading keeping Amity at his side with her gun pointed down the alley, it was useless but she couldn't just leave him.

Rick was at her side as well and with a glance towards Amity, he gripped the boy's leg on either side of the fence and ripped it upwards causing a terrible scream to leave the boy's throat.

* * *

Carol returned to the campsite out by the stone ruins once darkness completely fell. Wandering into the silent camp, eyeing the dead animals that were hanging from a line before spotting a string of walker ears hanging there as well. Her brows furrowed as she looked at them.

"What are ya doing?" A deep voice asked from behind her and the woman jumped.

"God." She gasped, surprised by the man's silent appearence. "Keeping an eye on you." She told him once she had recovered.

"Ain't ya a peach?" Daryl sneered.

"I'm not gonna let you pull away." Carol told him flatly. "You've earned your place."

"If ya spent half yer time minding yer daughter's business instead of sticking yer nose in everybody else's, she'd still be alive!" Daryl snapped at her, throwing harsh words in hopes of getting her to leave him alone.

"Go ahead." Carol said, her voice quiet as she nodded once at him.

"Go ahead and what?" Daryl asked, his voice hard. "Just go! I don't want ya here!" He yelled at her, trying to scare her off but Carol didn't move.

"You're a real piece of work, lady." Daryl huffed, stalking around her. "What, are ya gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that?" He asked, revealing his demons even while trying to keep people from getting close.

"Pfft! Man, ya know Jack." He scoffed. "You're afraid. You're afraid 'cause you're all alone." He yelled, trying to hit her soft spots. "Ya got no husband, no daughter. Ya don't know what to do with yerself."

"Ya ain't my problem! Sophia wasn't mine! She wasn't Amity's! She was yers! All ya had to do was keep an eye on her!" He yelled, stepping quickly her way and the woman flinched back.

He fell quiet, looking at her with a blank expression though his eyes held so much more. Daryl saw a bit of himself in Carol as she saw a bit of herself in him.

"Don't push everyone away, Daryl. Not when you're so close to gaining so much more." Carol told him, her eyes shooting pointedly to the backpack that lay just inside his tent, one that was obviously not his own, before she turned to head back to the house.

* * *

Morning came and the group was preparing to make a run into town to find the small group that had went out.

Daryl was standing behind the Cherokee, his crossbow slung over his shoulder, when Andrea let out a sigh and pointed towards the driveway.

"Guys." She said, pulling their attention to the familiar vehicle that was roaring down the dirt path. Daryl let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, linking his fingers behind his head as the car came to a stop and the group rushed over.

The car ride from town to the farm with the injured boy had been a fairly quiet affair after the kid passed out, but not before they got his name out of him.

Randall- the kid whose leg they almost chopped off in a hurry. The kid who was going to cause them even more problems- that Amity was sure of.

The vehicle stopped quickly, the engine cutting off as everyone save for Amity and Randall climbed out.

"Dad!" Amity heard Carl yell as she stayed in the back seat, keeping pressure on Randall's leg wound like Hershel had requested.

"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery." Hershel called out as he headed towards the house and there was a beat of silence while everyone exchanged looks, trying to determine who hadn't gotten out of the car and showed that they were okay.

It seemed Daryl figured it out first as he shot off towards the red truck before being stopped by Rick's arm on his chest.

"She's fine." Rick told the man who looked at him like he was lying, moving to try to get past him.

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asked, making Daryl look back towards him before following his eyes to see an unfamiliar boy leaning back against the seat, a blindfold over his eyes. He spotted a familiar mess of red hair just next to him which had his heartbeat slowing a bit.

"That's Randall." Glenn said simply.

Everyone moved forward at that, wanting to get a glimpse of the kid that the group had brought back with them. Amity offered anyone who met her eyes an exhausted smile before she found her favorite pair of Georgia blues.

Daryl raised a brow at her and she just shook her head at him, not knowing what to say, but he seemed to pick up on that and offered her a curt reassuring nod.

Once Randall was put in the shed and Hershel got to work on his leg, Amity returned to the house with the rest of the group.

She was engulfed in a hug by Maggie as soon as she climbed out of the vehicle followed closely by Carol and T-Dog.

"You look like you had an adventure." Carol told her as they walked together towards the large white house and Amity let out a breathy laugh.

"You could call it that. You have a good time back here?" Amity asked her and Carol shook her head lightly, seeming more exasperated than anything else.

"I've been trying to keep some of us around." The older woman explained, giving a pointed glance Daryl's way who was heading off in another direction when Amity looked at her with confusion.

"He'll be better now that you're back, I think." Carol said and Amity shook her head.

"I think our friendship might have timed out. I'm not going to force my presence on him." Amity said and it was Carol's turn to shake her head as they climbed the steps of the house.

"Daryl moved his camp out over there-" Carol told her, pointing to the stone ruins where a tent sat. "I think he's trying to keep himself from the group- not finding Sophia took a toll on him..." She trailed off then and Amity reached out to take her hand, giving it a small squeeze. "My point is that he moved your things too. Your bag and stuff was still in his tent."

Amity looked at Carol with a bit of shock before quickly composing her expression, wanting to keep her thoughts on that matter to herself in that moment. Some things only needed to be known by her.

She settled down at the dining room table between Carol and Andrea once they made it inside, her eyes trained on Rick.

"We couldn't just leave him behind." Rick told the group.

"He would've bled out... if he lived that long." Amity added, backing the man up.

"It's gotten bad in town." Glenn admitted, exchanging a look with Maggie.

"What do we do with him?" Andrea asked as Hershel entered the room.

"I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week." The veterinarian told them all.

"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way." Rick said, making that decision then and there apparently.

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea pointed out.

The sound of a door opening had Amity looking over and catching a familiar blue eyed gaze. Daryl nodded at her as he entered, receiving a small smile from Carol as he leaned against the wall in the dining room.

"He'll have a fighting chance." Rick replied.

"We're just gonna let him go?" Shane asked harshly. "He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here." Amity told the group, meeting Shane's gaze.

"He's not a threat." Rick added.

"Not a threat?" Shane echoed, obviously not agreeing. "How many of them were there?" He asked. "You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking?"

"They left him for dead. No one is looking." Rick insisted.

"We should still post a guard." T-Dog spoke up.

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours." Hershel let everyone know.

"You know what? I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." Shane scoffed. "Look at this, folks- we're back in fantasy land." He announced loudly, moving to head for the door until Hershel stopped him.

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet. Let me make this perfectly clear- once and for all. This is my farm, now I wanted you gone- Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor keep your mouth shut." Hershel told him, standing firm in front of the unstable man in a way that made Amity want to give him a round of applause.

Shane looked around the room, a small sigh leaving his lips as he seemed to decide that it wasn't a battle he wanted to fight right then and left the house.

"Look- we're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off." Rick said to Hershel, being the mediator as usual.

With that, the group began to disperse. Amity followed Daryl out the front door, speeding up a bit to walk by his side.

"So I've heard we've moved camp." She said, looking over at him with a slightly raised brow.

The man glanced her way before turning his eyes back to the land in front of them, his hand going to his mouth briefly as he chewed on his thumbnail. Amity waited for him to gather his thoughts, not wanting to rush the usually quiet man.

"I didn't know what to do with yer things... or if ya'd want to stay with me instead of Glenn or somethin' since I moved away from the rest." He said and Amity watched him for a moment.

"I'll stay with you." She said simply. "I told you I've been getting used to your snoring, Dixon."

"I don't snore." Daryl protested immediately, bringing a smile to the redhead's lips before he was turning, standing in front of her.

"I shoulda came after ya." He said, his eyes holding her's.

"What?" Amity asked, confused.

"Lori- she came out and told me that ya'll had gone off and I told her to get ya herself. I was through bein' an errand boy, but I shoulda went and got ya." He explained and Amity shook her head, raising her hand to cup his cheek but he flinched away. Instead of dropping her hand in response she simply paused, letting him realize what was happening before she gently and slowly rested her palm against his skin, feeling the scruff of his facial hair under her touch and giving him a moment to pull away if he would like.

"You don't always have to rescue everyone, Daryl." She told the man, her thumb ghosting over his cheekbone as she held his gaze. He stepped closer to her, his chest brushing hers as he looked down at her. A warm silence stretched between them as they stood, not needing words in that moment until the sound of the screen door creaking open had Daryl backing away and Amity smiling in spite of it.

"Come on, Dixon. Show me where our new home is." She implored the man, walking at his side once again.


	11. Chapter 11

It had been nearly over a week since the showdown in town, since the day that they all brought Randall back with them.

Earlier that morning Hershel had given the go-ahead for taking the boy out and dropping him off somewhere, so while Shane and Rick handled that, Amity found herself in the kitchen of the Greene's house with Maggie and Lori.

"Rick say anything to you about Glenn when they got back from town?" Maggie asked Lori cutting into the silence and causing Amity to look up from where she was whittling down a stick, trying to make herself an arrow like Daryl had taught her a few nights before.

"Just that it had gotten pretty bad." Lori told her.

"He's not the same." Maggie explained, looking over at Amity to see that she was listening as well. "Says he froze. Blames me. Says I got inside his head."

"He did freeze up. It was unusual for him, but that doesn't make it your fault." Amity reasoned.

"He came back- that's what matters." Lori added, pausing a moment to shake her head before continuing. "Men have to do certain things, you know that, and they're either gonna blame the little woman as the reason they do 'em or the reason they don't."

Amity couldn't help but snort at that, waving a hand to tell the woman to continue when they both looked at her with a cross between confusion and amusement.

"I'll tell you something, what happens out there happens out there. And we- we're just trying to keep it together till they get back." Lori said, continuing on after Amity's small interruption.

"Unless you're the one out there as well." Amity chimed in, raising a brow when Lori looked her way.

As much as she understood holding down the fort, the gender divide in doing so was bordering on ridiculous in their camp. She would do her share of work around the camp, laundry and such, but she expected the men to do the same just as she should be expected to take watch shifts and make runs into town.

Fair was fair and Amity had worked too damn hard her whole life to get ahead in the world to resort to playing Little House on the Prairie to save a man's pride.

"Things were good." Maggie said, shaking her head. "Maybe I-"

"Glenn's a big boy." Amity cut her off, whittling off another thin strip of wood with her knife to add to the small pile growing on the table.

"He makes his own choices. Do you have anything to apologize for?" Lori asked the younger woman who shook her head in response.

"Then tell him to man up and pull himself together." The brunette mother suggested.

"Just don't say 'man up.'" Amity added with a laugh, Lori joining her a second later.

"Yeah, that never goes well." She admitted.

Maggie looked between the two older women, smiling as she did so before moving to grab the tray that was resting on the table next to Amity's small wood shavings pile.

"Let me just get this to Beth." She said, but Lori hopped off the counter and waved her off.

"You go on- I got it." She said, picking up the tray and leaving Amity and Maggie alone in the kitchen.

"You go find your lover boy and I'm going to go see if this is suitable enough of an arrow shaft to convince Daryl to teach me how to make the fletchings." Amity directed, standing up from her seat and sweeping the shavings into her palm to toss into the garbage can.

"I'm sorry, all I heard was 'you go find your lover boy and I'm gonna go find mine.'" Maggie teased as they both headed for the front door.

"You're walking a fine line, Greene." Amity told her.

"Between what?" The younger woman asked as they descended the front porch steps.

"Life and death." Amity said simply.

"Aren't we all?" Maggie quipped back before Amity left her side, heading towards the group's campsite when she spotted Daryl sitting in one of the chairs by the fire while Maggie went to find Glenn.

"I come bearing gifts!" Amity announced as she sat down on the ground in front of Daryl, holding out the makeshift arrow shaft with a bright smile like a child presenting a drawing to their parents to hang on the fridge.

"Ain't much of a gift." Daryl told her, immediately turning her smile into a small scowl.

"Listen here, Dixon- will it work or not?" She asked him, flicking his knee lightly.

She watched as the man turned the wood over in his calloused hands, his brilliant blue eyes scanning the item before nodding once to himself.

"It's definitely better than yer last attempts." Daryl told her and Amity nearly rolled her eyes. Her hands weren't exactly used to the task of whittling down wood so it had been a bit of a struggle for her at first, but the redhead was nothing if not determined.

"So... will you teach me how to make the fletchings now?" She asked him, looking up at him from where she was sat and giving him her best smile.

"Don't do that." Daryl told her.

"Do what?" Amity asked innocently.

"That- with yer face."

"I'm just smiling, Daryl."

"Ya ain't.

"I am."

"Amity!" Lori's voice called from nearby as she ran up to the pair. "Have you seen Maggie or Hershel?" She asked.

"I haven't seen Hershel, but I saw Maggie and Glenn walk by maybe 20 minutes ago." Amity told her, looking at her with concern as she rose to her feet.

"What's going on?" She asked but Lori just shook her head.

"Could you find her for me?" She asked, looking more towards Daryl who reluctantly nodded his head. "I've gotta get back to the house."

"Lori, wait!" Amity said, reaching out to grab the woman's wrist as Daryl stood up from his chair, setting Amity's arrow aside for now. "What's going on?" She asked again.

"Something happened with Beth..." She said vaguely and getting the hint, Daryl turned to head off in search of Maggie.

It wasn't much later before the man found the young woman and brought her back to the house, Maggie immediately going to her sister's room while Amity leaned against the counter beside Lori, her eyes trained on the floor.

Andrea had joined them a few moments later, Lori filling the woman in rather quickly.

The three of them stood in silence while the Greene girls' yelling echoed through the house. If the situation wasn't so grim then Amity might have smiled at that, it reminded her of herself and Michael when they got in to it.

"Where's Hershel?" Andrea asked suddenly.

"She doesn't want him to find out yet." Lori explained, catching the look Andrea sent her. "It's a family affair. We'll let them work it out." She insisted.

"That's working it out?" Andrea wondered and Amity nodded from her place at the table.

"When Beth stops fighting, that's when it's time to worry." Lori said.

"This could've been handled better." Andrea told the pair.

"How so?" Lori asked her.

"You shouldn't have taken the knife away." Andrea said simply and Amity turned to look at her, eyebrows furrowing.

"As a professional in this kind of thing, I'm going to disagree with that." Amity retorted, shaking her head at the thought of actually doing as Andrea suggest.

She understood what she was getting at, but leaving the opportunity open for someone to hurt themselves when you could have stopped it was never the answer. If Lori would have seen that Beth had the knife and let her keep it, it was as good as telling Beth that she had made the right choice and Lori didn't care if she did it.

"There's no being a professional in this kind of thing anymore. Things are different now and Lori, you were _wrong-_ like Dale taking my gun." Andrea continued, trying to make a point despite Amity's words. "That wasn't your decision. She has to choose to live on her own. She has to find her own reasons."

"Want me to tie a noose for her?" Lori countered.

"If she's serious, she'll figure out a way."

"As true as that may be, that doesn't mean that we stand back and watch someone deal with psychological distress of that measure without intervention. Not even in this world." Amity said, getting a bit frustrated with the blonde woman.

"Exactly, it doesn't mean I can't stop her or let her know that I care." Lori agreed.

"That has nothing to do with it." Andrea told them. "She only has so many choices in front of her, and she believes the best one is suicide."

"That's not an option." Lori said, but Amity shook her head at that.

"Of course it is." The redhead said, sighing lightly.

"She doesn't need to be yelled at or treated like a child." Andrea said.

"She needs a loaded gun, right?" Lori asked condescendingly. "You'll understand if I don't send you in there."

"I came through it." Andrea said slowly.

"And became such a _productive_ member of the group." Lori countered, still moving about the kitchen and straightening everything up. "Let Maggie handle this her way."

"I contribute." Andrea insisted and Amity felt this argument begin to take another direction. This wasn't about Beth anymore- this was about whatever beef was between the two women and she was torn between getting out of the danger zone or sitting back and watching the explosion.

"I help keep this place safe." Andrea told her.

"The men can handle this on their own." Lori stated and Amity let out a small groan at that, blue eyes turning to the ceiling as she prayed to the gods to give her the patience to deal with this conversation. "They don't need your help." She continued, looking pointedly between both Andrea and Amity in that moment, the redhead surprised that she was now a part of this.

She should have gotten out while she had the chance.

"I'm sorry. What would you have me do?" Andrea asked and Amity crossed her arms over her chest, wondering the same thing.

"Oh, there's plenty of work to go around." Lori said a bit dramatically.

"Are you serious? Everything falls apart and you're in my face over skipping _laundry_?" Andrea asked her.

"Puts a burden on the rest of us- on me and Carol, and Patricia and Maggie." Lori told them.

"I pull my weight where I can." Amity cut in sharply. "Just because I do chores around camp and then _also_ go out and risk my ass to keep the group secure doesn't negate the things that I do."

"You're a better balancing act than Andrea, I'll give you that." Lori told the redhead who had to take a step back for a moment, willing herself not to tear the Modern Housewife of the Apocalypse a new one. There was nothing wrong with women doing things that were typically considered feminine all of the time, but to be forced into a stereotypical gender role despite one's desires or skills was a whole different thing entirely.

"But you-" Lori began again, rounding on Andrea. "You don't care about anyone but yourself. You sit up on that RV, working on your tan with a shotgun in your lap."

"No, I am on watch against walkers. _That_ is what matters, not fresh mint leaves in the lemonade." Andrea retorted.

"And we are providing stability. We are trying to create a life worth living." Lori insisted.

"Are you kidding me?" Andrea asked the woman, looking to Amity for support but the redhead just shook her head, not trusting herself to speak in that moment.

"Look, I went after Rick. I took down two walkers. Don't act like you're the only one who can take care of herself." Lori said while Andrea talked over her.

"After crashing Maggie's car. Ever apologize for that?" Andrea wondered.

"Crashing her- You're insane." Lori told the blonde, sounding resigned.

"No, you are." Andrea shot back. "And you're the one that's self-centered, the way you take it all for granted."

"My husband is out there for the hundredth time. My son was shot." Lori snapped, working herself up. "Don't you dare tell me I take this for granted."

"You don't get it, do you?" Andrea asked her. "Your husband came back from the dead, your son too and now you've got a baby on the way. The rest of us have piled up our losses- me, Carol, Beth- but you just keep on keeping on."

"We have _all_ suffered." Lori told her.

"Playing house, acting like the queen bee, laying down rules for everybody but yourself. You know what? Go ahead." Andrea insisted. "Go in there and tell that little girl that everything's gonna be okay, just like it is for you. She'll get a husband, a son, baby... boyfriend."

A large silence stretched between the women then, Lori turning to look at Andrea with wide eyes, her jaw jumping a bit.

"She just has to look on the bright side." Andrea finished, letting out a small scoff before moving from the kitchen.

Amity stood where she had the entire time, leaning against the kitchen counter, but now left with only Lori after what had just been said, she felt like it was time to move.

"Shane and I aren't-" Lori began as Amity headed towards the front door but the redhead cut her off by raising a hand in her direction.

"I know, Lori." She told the woman simply before continuing her way out of the house.

Amity took a lap, walking the perimeter of the farm to not only check to make sure everything was secure, but to clear her head as well.

Everything was getting too much again- everything was piling on top of each other and leaving a mess in its wake for everyone.

Shane going off the deep end, losing Sophia, then Randall coming along, and Beth's struggle now- Amity wanted to help everyone, she wanted to make things okay, but she was just one person who couldn't even seem to keep one damn promise.

* * *

Things on the run to drop off Randall had taken a turn for the worst.

Rick and Shane had finally turned on one another, each man trying to bash the other's head in while their prisoner crawled his way to freedom.

Only once walkers started pouring out of a nearby building did the men break apart, Rick hiding under a walker body while Shane ran off with a horde on his ass.

Rick soon moved from his hiding place, getting ambushed by three walkers that he took out before finding Randall, the two of them spotting Shane trapped in a school bus with around a dozen walkers pushing against the doors, begging for a taste of him.

The former sheriff made a quick decision to leave his former partner behind- deciding to wash his hands of him after everything he had put him through and after everything that he had become. It was only when he came across a pair of dead cops laying side by side that he changed his plan, ushering Randall into the driver's seat of the Hyundai so that he could make an attempt to save his former best friend.

As they swerved around the corner of the building, Rick hanging out the window of the car and popping a shot off into a walker's head, he was surprised to see a horse of all things in the parking lot, the man on its back shooting round after round into walker skulls.

The dark-haired man looked over at the speeding car with confusion in his blue eyes, tugging back on the reins of his steed to guide them out of the way of the vehicle as the man who had been trapped inside the bus stumbled out.

"Who the hell are you?" Shane asked the stranger on the horse, but the man just looked over his shoulder at the other walkers still stumbling their way from the building towards them.

"Get in the car with your friends and go!" He told Shane, his voice a deep bass laced with an accent rather similar to the one that the Greene's bore.

"Follow us!" Shane told him, making the split decision to make this man an ally- he had saved his life after all, something that Shane valued over anything else.

The man look conflicted as he sent another bullet tearing through the skull of a nearby walker.

"Shane!" Rick yelled from the car, trying to get his friend moving.

"Follow us!" Shane yelled at the rider again before jumping into the back of the car.

The horseman hesitated for a moment, cursing once to himself before kicking his horse on, the sound of hoofbeats echoing across the parking lot as he cantered out of the area and down the road, following the direction that the car had went.

A few miles up the road, the man pulled his horse to a slower trot as he approached the familiar car that had apparently stopped and waited for his arrival.

Shane and Rick climbed out as he came up, Rick having ordered Randall to stay in the vehicle after tying him back up and moving him to the trunk once more.

"My name's Rick." The former sheriff began as the man pulled his horse to a stop, eyeing the pair warily.

"I'm Shane, and I suppose I need to be thanking you for what you did back there." Shane told him and the man just nodded once.

"If there is anything we can do for you, anything you need, then just let us-" Rick began, but the rider soon cut him off.

"I'm looking for someone." He told them both and the men exchanged a glance.

"Well, you give us a name then if we come across them we'll be sure to send them your way the best we can." Rick said, knowing the chances were slim, but who was he to say no to such an simple request.

The horseman seemed to hesitate a moment, shifting in the saddle before he lifted his cowboy hat to push a hand through his dark hair.

"My little sister, Amity Walker." He began, stunning both of the men standing in front of him though he didn't seem to notice. "She's a little bit of a thing, red hair and blue eyes- she'll probably be flappin' her jaw if you come across her."

"I-I think you need to follow us." Rick said suddenly, cutting the man off before he could continue to describe the woman that they both knew so well.

"What?" The man asked and Shane just nodded in agreement with Rick's words.

"Follow us back to our camp- I know it sounds suspect, but you're going to want to see what we have to show you."

* * *

Amity found her way back into the large white house and to Lori's side, helping the woman with a bit of the dishes though after their earlier argument she felt like the task held a whole different meaning.

It wasn't until they heard Maggie yelling, a pounding noise following her words, that the women looked at one another for the first time since Amity had came back inside before rushing towards Beth's room.

"Maggie?" Amity asked as the two women came through the door.

"She's in there." Maggie told them, her voice panicked. "I heard glass."

"Beth, you alright?" Amity called out, hurrying to the bathroom door.

"Beth, sweetie- we can talk about this, okay? I need you to listen to me for a moment. I'm not going to try to talk you out of this, but I do want to talk with you about it, about your decision and why it matters to you." Amity said through the wooden door while the two women behind her began to search for a way in.

"God, I left her with Andrea." Maggie said, rushing to the vanity in the room and Amity looked at Lori with wide eyes.

"Where's a key?" Lori asked after returning Amity's look, moving to Maggie's side.

"I don't know." Maggie said, searching through drawers.

"Beth, I want to understand where you are coming from and figure out what it is that we can do together to solve everything. Your feelings are valid and understandable- we all just care about you and want to be there for you through this." Amity kept up her stream of words, not even knowing if the girl was listening anymore but she had to try as Maggie joined her at the door, looking desperate.

"Amity, Maggie." Lori said from behind them and the redhead moved just in time for the woman to shove a fire poker into the doorframe, wedging it in before pressing her weight against it to bust open the lock on the door.

"I'm sorry." Beth said, turning around from the mirror once the stumbled in. She held her bleeding wrist with tears streaking down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry." She sobbed as Maggie rushed to her side.

"It's okay." Maggie soothed the girl, leading her out of the bathroom.

It didn't take long for the news to spread through the camp about what happened to Beth after Amity had ran to fetch Hershel.

After telling the man that his daughters needed him in the house and that it was an emergency, Amity took herself out of the situation. Right then, there was nothing else she could do to help the girl.

Instead she went back to the camp, tracking down Daryl after picking up her discarded arrow shaft from earlier that day and sitting down in front of him once more, ignoring the fact that he was skinning a squirrel to have Carol cook up for that night, a few already butchered ones sitting off to the side.

"So-" She began, but Daryl just kept doing what he was doing, hands bloodied as he tore into the small creature.

"Are you going to show me how to make the fletchings?" Amity asked him after watching him work for a couple of seconds.

Once the squirrel was butchered, Daryl grabbed a rag to wipe the blood off of his hands, looking at the redhead for a minute before nodding, moving to grab his crossbow from off a nearby chair and heading towards the woods.

"Whoa, wait- where are you going?" Amity called after him, pushing herself quickly to her feet.

"If ya want to make fletchings then ya have to have feathers, girl." He told her, tossing the words over his shoulder as he kept walking, making Amity jog to catch up with him.

"So we're going hunt-" The woman began, but was cut off by the sound of tires tearing up the dirt driveway.

The pair turned, both of them squinting against the sun as they spotted the car Shane and Rick had taken coming down the driveway, but that wasn't what was unusual, what was weird was the man on horseback that was following along behind them.

"They leave to drop off one stranger and come back with another?" Amity questioned, pulling a snort from Daryl as they both returned to the camp to meet whoever it was Shane and Rick had brought back.

The car reached them first and Amity hovered by Daryl's side, the man keeping his crossbow trained on the horseman in the distance- he was never the trusting sort.

Rick and Shane climbed out of the car, Rick coming towards them while Shane went around the back and opened the trunk, hauling Randall out and dragging him back towards the shed.

"Came back with two." Daryl muttered to her.

"The drop didn't go as planned then?" Amity asked, pointing out the obvious.

"No." Rick confirmed. "It didn't."

"Who's your new friend?" T-Dog asked, coming up to join the pair, the rest of the group slowly trickling in to watch the unfamiliar horse and rider come down the driveway towards them.

"You'll see." Rick said vaguely, making the group look at him like he lost it.

They stood in silence as the man finally passed the gate, Daryl still keeping his weapon trained on the stranger while the rest of the group fidgeted with their weapons. No one was okay with another newcomer and Amity wondered what exactly the two men had been thinking with leading him back to the farm.

It wasn't until the horse was reined to a stop just behind the car, the rider dismounting and stepping around the vehicle that Amity recognized the features of him, a gasp escaping her lips which had Carol worriedly touching her arm.

The man looked around at the group, his stance tense as he took in the weapons pointed his way until his blue eyes landed on a pair identical to his own.

" _Bug_." He said, the word coming out like a relieved sigh, confusing everyone in the group until Amity launched herself forward.

The group froze, not knowing what to do as the strange man caught the redhead in an embrace, her legs hooking around his middle as she all but clung to him. Daryl moved to step forward, his crossbow still pointed at the man but Rick stopped him with a hand on his arm, Daryl shaking it off a second later as Amity's boots touched the dirt again and everyone realized sobs were wracking her body.

"Hey, hey-" Daryl snapped, moving forward and pushing his way between the pair, sending the man back a few steps before he moved forward angrily in return.

"What did ya do to her?" Daryl asked sharply.

"Wait, wait!" Amity interjected, roughly wiping the tears from her face as she moved between the two men, her back pressing against the newcomer's chest as she looked at Daryl, telling him with her eyes to calm down before she turned to the rest of the group.

"This is Michael- my older brother." She revealed quickly in hopes of soothing the tension around them. Instead she left everyone looking between the siblings, trying to find the similarities that ended at their eyes.

Michael Walker was a hulking 6'3" ranch hand with jet black hair, farmer's tan, and accent to match while Amity was definitely smaller, paler, and presented herself in a way that would have never clued anyone in to the fact she was born and raised on a backwoods farm.

She turned back to the man then, throwing her arms around him once more and he returned the hug in full, one large hand resting on top of the woman's head as he held her close. Daryl took a step back, not knowing what to do or say while witnessing the reunion that he had interrupted with his temper.

Amity didn't leave Michael's side even hours after the man had arrived. She helped him put his horse in the stable before introducing him to the group members one-by-one, the last introduction being Daryl who eyed the man with distrust that was returned in full force.

"He's not much of a talker." Amity told her brother as they headed towards the group consisting of Shane, Rick, Glenn, T-Dog, and Andrea that Daryl had lit off towards only moments before just after giving Michael a curt nod of greeting and nothing more.

"We need to figure out more about the people he was with." Shane was saying as they approached, Amity settling in easily amongst the group while Michael hovered behind her, blue eyes roving over the group around him.

"I can't believe that he knows Maggie- he must have recognized Hershel in town though so why didn't he say anything?" Glenn wondered.

"He may have been a bit distracted by the metal fence through his calf, Glenny." Amity chimed in, causing her brother to raise a dark brow at that.

He didn't know what these people had been through or why they were keeping a boy tied up in a shed, but he trusted his sister enough to roll with the punches thrown his way.

"Either way he knows where the farm is now and can't be released like we planned." Rick stated, sighing lightly as he shifted back on his heels, looking at the group around him.

"Amity, could you talk to him?" He asked finally, causing two of the men in the circle to shift uncomfortably. "You were there when we found him and he was clinging to you for dear life- that fact and your psychobabble might be able to get him to open up." He reasoned, Amity narrowing her eyes at the word 'psychobabble.'

"Daryl, you're plan B." He added on the end, looking at the hunter.

"I should be plan A." Daryl told him flatly and Amity rolled her eyes.

"Randall isn't going to hurt me." She said as if the idea alone was ridiculous to consider.

"I wouldn't count on that, Am. I saw him decimate a zomb's skull with a knife out there." Michael said from behind her, causing her to turn to look at her brother.

"Zomb?" Amity echoed, sounding amused but the man just gave her a flat look before ignoring her.

"I can stand in there with her, make sure he don't try anythin'." He told Rick, already figuring out that the man was the obvious leader of the group.

"He doesn't know you." Amity told Michael, referring to Randall.

"Daryl can be in there as backup." Rick interjected, breaking up the impending sibling bickering. "That way if things go south then he can try his own hand at having a talk with him, okay?"

The group all agreed with that and began to disperse aside from Michael who just crossed his thick arms over his chest, now eyeing the man with the crossbow more closely as Amity went to his side.

"You can come inside if you would like. I'll make you something to eat." A voice chirped from beside the man and he looked over to see Carol, the woman that Amity had introduced as a good friend of her's, standing next to him with a kind smile. "It's had to have been a while since you've gotten food from an actual kitchen."

Michael hesitated a moment, his blue eyes still trained on the back of his little sister as she headed towards the shed, a smile on her face as she looked over at the rough man walking next to her.

"You're right about that, m'am- I'd greatly appreciate it." He said finally, returning his eyes to the woman whose smile brightened a bit at his words.

"You don't need to call me, m'am- it makes me feel older than I am." Carol told him as they made their way towards the large white building.

"My apologies, _Carol_." Michael said, reiterating with the obvious use of her name, pulling a small laugh from the woman as they entered the house.

* * *

Amity stood back while Daryl entered the shed first. The redhead was unhappy with the fact that the group obviously thought she needed a babysitter, as if she couldn't handle herself, but at least it was someone she trusted to have her back anyways.

She would have been fine with Michael accompanying her, but she was secretly glad Rick vetoed the idea. Her brother could be a bit gun-ho at times and she feared he would have jumped the gun if Randall said anything close to out of line. She held hope that Daryl would sit back and be a bit more reserved, but there was no telling with the unreadable man.

"Hey, man- I don't know shit, okay?" Randall was telling Daryl as Amity entered the shed, his back pressed against the wall and his lip bloodied.

So much for her talking to him first, but it seemed that the hunter had hit him more to place a bit of fear in him than anything else.

Randall's eyes turned to her as she entered the shed, a bit of recognition and hope sparking on his face as he looked at her.

"Miss- Amity, wasn't it? I didn't know nothin' about what those guys were going to do when you were in the bar." Randall began, his voice frantic as she settled down in front of him on the dirt floor.

" _You_ shot at us... at _me_." Amity replied, her voice holding nothing but softness, a change from her usually snarky tone.

"I-I didn't mean it- I mean, we just knew that you had killed Dave and Tony. You would do the same, right? If you thought someone had killed members of your group." The boy pointed out and Amity nodded, a bit of tension falling from the young man's shoulders as she did so.

"I would do the same, you're right." She told him soothingly. "Speaking of your group, Randall- my friends are really concerned about them coming to find you or you going to find them and taking the miscommunication from town and turning it into a war."

"I wouldn't go find them. I don't even know where they are. I told him that-" Randall began to stammer, but Daryl interrupted him, lunging forward until he was knelt at Amity's side.

"Ya told me shit!" He spat at the boy.

"I barely knew those guys." Randall insisted, flinching away from the enraged hunter. "I met 'em on the road."

"How many in your group?" Amity asked him gently, crossing her legs under her and pushing Daryl away with a small hand on his chest. The man hesitated under her touch before moving back and rising to his feet once more.

Randall watched the interaction with calculating eyes though a thoughtful noise left him as he considered her question. "Uh..." He began, hesitating.

"Look, Randall, you're not betraying your people by telling us anything about them. We're not going to go after them, I mean, look at us. We only have a couple of fighters between us and children for God's sake. We're not looking for a fight, we're looking to make sure we're safe where we are." Amity told him, slowing down her words and offering the boy a faux smile filled with fabricated worry and concern.

The boy seemed conflicted for a moment, his eyes searching her face.

"I just want to stay safe, Randall." She said, her voice quiet and feeble, nothing like her at all.

"Thirty- there were around thirty the last I saw 'em all." He said finally and Amity gave him an encouraging smile.

"Where?" She asked gently.

"Uh..." He hesitated again and Amity leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees as she kept her piercing gaze on him. "I don't know."

"Randall..." She began.

"I swear." He insisted. "We were never any place more than a night."

"Scouting? Planning on staying local?" Daryl growled from behind her and Randall looked back at him, eyes widening a bit as if he had forgotten the man was there.

"I- I don't know." He said and Amity saw him closing himself up once again. "They- they left me behind."

With that Amity let out a small sigh, knowing that she had gotten everything out of him that she could with her niceties unless she wanted to be there the whole night establishing a relationship- something that wouldn't be possible with Daryl stalking around behind her like a caged wolf.

"Wait, wait- where are you going?" Randall asked as she went to move, he sat forward and strained against his bonds as if he wanted to reach out to grab her and make her stay, but Daryl was immediately at her side.

"Sit back, don't touch her." He snarled and Randall fell back against the wall, looking defeated as Amity rose to her feet and brushed some of the dirt off her jeans.

Daryl took that as his cue to step in, kneeling down beside the boy as Amity hovered near the front of the shed like he had been.

"Did ya ever pick off a scab?" Daryl asked the boy, ripping his bandage from his leg and exposing the wound that had Amity biting her lip.

"Come on, man!" Randall pleaded. "I-I'm trying to cooperate."

"Start real slow at first." Daryl continued, the knife from his belt now in his hand, hovering over the wound.

"No." Randall said, squirming away from his touch and looking to Amity with pleading eyes, but the woman just watched.

"Sooner or later, ya've just gotta rip it off." The hunter snapped, jerking forward in a way that had Randall fearing for his leg and giving in to his questions.

"Okay, okay." He said quickly, halting Daryl's actions. "T-They have weapons- heavy stuff- automatics." He told them. "But I didn't do anything." He added unnecessarily and Daryl lunged forward, his fist connecting with the side of the boy's face, making Amity flinch slightly.

"Yer boys shot at my boys, at _her_ , tried to take this farm. Ya just went along for the ride?" The man asked, his voice a loud growl. "You're trying to tell me you're innocent?"

"Yes!" Randall insisted, spitting blood into the dirt.

"These- these people took me in. Not just guys, there's a whole group of 'em with men and women, kids too. Just like you people." He told Daryl. "Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know? But we go out, scavenge, just the men." He continued and Amity felt the tone of his story shift, something darker lurking behind his tone.

"Found a man and his two daughters- teenagers, you know? Real young. Real... cute." Randall said, his eyes moving to Amity then as he swept his gaze over her, making her stomach lurch as Daryl stood frozen, listening to his story.

"Their daddy had to watch while these guys- and they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just- they just made him watch as his daughters- They just left him there." He explained and Amity felt herself become a bit lightheaded from the disgust that settled inside of her.

"No, b-but I didn't touch those girls!" Randall cried out suddenly, having seen something in Daryl's face shift. "No, I swear I didn't tou-" The boy was cut off by Daryl's fist connecting with his face, a cry of pain escaping the boy.

"Please. Please." He begged, trying to move away as he looked to Amity for help but she couldn't look at him any longer and turned to leave the shed and the boy behind.

"You gotta believe me, miss!" He called after her. "Amity! Miss! I'm not like that!" He pleaded, his voice breaking with a sob as Daryl sent a swift kick to his ribs, growling at him to not talk to her.

"Please." She heard from behind her, the boy's voice fading as she continued to walk a few paces outside the shed until his voice could be heard no longer and she it was there that she stopped, waiting for Daryl to join her so they could recount what had been said to the group.

It was only a few minutes before the man appeared, the angel wings on the back of his vest he kept on over his jacket being presented to her as he locked the shed door behind him.

"You good?" Amity asked as he approached, reaching out for his hand once she spotted the blood on his knuckles. Daryl replied with a scoff, holding his hands out of her reach as he nodded at her to head back towards the camp with him.

"Are ya good?" Daryl echoed her question and Amity narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm not the one who was busting my knuckles up on someone's face." She reminded him just before the group spotted them approaching from where they were all gathered around, turning to them expectantly.

"Boy there's got a gang, thirty men." Daryl began, stopping at the edge of the group and Amity settled in next to him. "They have heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead, and our women, they're gonna-" He paused briefly, glancing over to Amity who was chewing on her lip. "They're gonna wish they were."

"What did you do?" Carol asked from her place next to Michael who was watching his little sister with obvious concern behind his eyes.

"Had a little chat." Daryl said simply. "Amity got the most out of him though- I just got the details."

"No one goes near this guy." Rick told the group.

"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asked, her voice low though everyone was still settled around close enough to hear her.

"We have no choice. He's a threat." Rick replied, raising his voice as he addressed the group once more. "We have to eliminate the threat."

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asked, sounding horrified.

"It's settled. I'll do it today." Rick told him before walking off from them all.

As the group dispersed, Jimmy came down from the house just as Michael had crossed over to Amity's side, gently taking the woman's face between his hands to look her over as if he still couldn't believe she was there, alive, in front of him.

"You never told me what happened to your face, Bug." Michael said, his thumb grazing over the bandage that she had Maggie change earlier that morning.

The redhead just shook her head at that, causing her brother's brows to furrow at her hesitance to tell him. "It's a story for another time." She reasoned.

"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt, but Amity told Maggie a while back that you were a ranch hand?" Jimmy said, stopping beside the siblings, looking at the large man expectantly.

"Yeah, I've been workin' on a cattle ranch since I was a kid- Amity here has too." Michael told him and the boy looked at Amity with a bit of shock in his expression.

"Couldn't have pegged her as a farmer's daughter now, could ya? Bug here shot off of our family's farm the moment she graduated high school. Lit outta there like she had fire under her ass." Michael explained with a chuckle, causing the redhead to shove him, the large man not budging an inch.

"Well, we'd really appreciate your help if you don't mind. Nearly a dozen or so steer busted through one of the fences and we're needing to get them wrangled." Jimmy explained and Michael nodded immediately.

"Sure thing, I'll go saddle up Grey and head down there to help you." Michael told him and Jimmy thanked him quickly before rushing off towards the field where the loose steer must have been.

"Grey?" Amity questioned her brother. "Your horse is an red roan appaloosa." She pointed out.

"And?" Michael responded.

"And go saddle up your roan horse named Grey, you overgrown child. I'll catch up with you later." She insisted with a laugh and a roll of her eyes, shooing the man off until she was standing alone in the camp.

She took a small breath, looking around her and enjoying the silence for a moment before deciding to make the trek out to the campsite she shared with Daryl.

Walking up, she smiled when she saw him arranging the arrows he had made, a few that were too long to be bolts for his crossbow caught her attention specifically.

"Hey, Dixon- want to go hunt?" Amity called out as she approached, causing the man to turn to look at her with confusion.

"You're not the only one who can shoot a squirrel out of a tree, Cowboy." She reminded him, coming to a stop at his side.

"Ya can't call me that with yer brother around. He acts like he just stepped out of a old western movie." Daryl told her and Amity couldn't help but laugh.

"He does not." She protested but Daryl just shook his head at her.

"He does- he don't like me hangin' around ya either."

"You can't possibly know that."

"I do. He has that look."

"What look?"

"The same look ya get when you're looking at Shane- like you're waiting for him to fuck up any second." Daryl insisted.

"Well, fortunately for you, my brother has never and will never control who I spend time with." Amity said simply and Daryl let out a snort of laughter.

"That's supposed to be _fortunate_ for me?" He asked, causing Amity to narrow her eyes at him.

"Fuck you, Dixon." She snapped before moving to grab her bow, only being stopped by the sound of footsteps approaching their camp.

"The whole point of me coming up here is to get away from ya people." Daryl said, seeing that it was Dale who had approached them.

"Gonna take more than that." Dale told the man.

"Carol send you?" Daryl asked in response.

"Carol's not the only one that's concerned about you, your new role in the group." Dale said, moving closer to the pair.

"Oh, man, I don't need my head shrunk. That's Cherry's job over there anyway." Daryl said, gesturing over to Amity who had snatched her bow from the tent and wandered over to them, raising a brow at the nickname.

"This group's broken. I'm better off fending for myself." He reasoned and Amity tried her best not to take offense to that.

"You act like you don't care." Dale began.

"Yeah, it's 'cause I don't." Daryl cut him off.

"So live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall?"

"Nope."

"What about you, Amity?" Dale asked the redhead, making her shift from one foot to the other.

"I don't think that it's my call to make... or anyone's for that matter. Making the decision on if someone lives or dies is an issue bigger than any one of us, but I will say that I am not comfortable with having him around... not after hearing what his group did. It has me worried for Beth... for Maggie, Carol, Lori-"

"For yerself." Daryl interjected and Amity shook her head, looking over to meet his eyes, the two of them holding one another's gaze for a long moment of silence.

"If you don't care then why not stand with me, try to save the kid's life, if it really doesn't matter one way or the other?" Dale cut in, not knowing what to do with their silent exchange.

"Didn't peg ya for a desperate son of a bitch." Daryl told him, finally turning his eyes away from Amity to begin collecting the arrows he had been laying out earlier, pressing them into his quiver.

"Your opinion makes a difference." Dale told him.

"Man, ain't nobody looking at me for nothing." Daryl said, shaking his head as he handed Amity the arrows he had made to fit her bow without a word about it.

"Carol is, Amity is, and I am." Dale argued, glancing to Amity to check if she would argue with that but she didn't, she had no reason to. It was true that she looked to Daryl for a lot- she trusted him and trusted his judgement. "Right now, and obviously you have Rick's ear."

"Rick just looks to Shane." Daryl retorted. "Let him."

"You cared about what happened to Sophia." Dale said and Amity put the arrows into her quiver in a hurry, rushing to Daryl's side as she was ready to leave the camp and that conversation as soon as possible. "Cared what it meant to the group. Torturing people? That isn't you. You're a decent man. So is Rick. Shane- he's different."

"Why's that?" Daryl asked. "'Cause he cut up Amity's face, 'cause he killed Otis?"

"He tell you that?" Dale asked, shooting Amity a suspicious glance but she just shrugged. It was a shock to her to hear her suspicions confirmed so outright, but she took it in stride.

"Girl suspected somethin' since the day he spoke at that funeral, same as me." Daryl explained. "He told some story 'bout how Otis covered him, saved his ass. He showed up with the dead guy's gun. Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's 'cause he didn't wanna." He insisted, hooking his crossbow over his shoulder and lightly bumping shoulders with Amity, telling her they were heading out.

"It's like I said, group's broken." Daryl told the man as they walked away.

Amity fell into step with the hunter at her side as they neared the wood line, her mind still on the conversation they had just had with Dale.

She hadn't been expecting the man to approach her, though she assumed it made sense. The man was willing to talk to anyone and everyone to get them on his side it seemed. It was a hell of an effort, but fear was a strong motivator and the redhead didn't think any amount of talking was going to change the way that river was flowin'.

"Do you think doing what's right is the best thing... or doing what ensures us to keep living?" Amity asked the man at her side, her voice just barely over a whisper as they moved through the forest.

Daryl didn't answer her question immediately and Amity didn't rush him. She let him think about what she had asked, her eyes on the trees as she kept an ear out for any sign there was a critter around waiting to become dinner.

"I don't know what's the best thing, but I'd rather stay livin'," Daryl said finally. "Don't think anything is gonna guarantee that though," he added and Amity considered that.

She understood what he meant- the need for survival was one of their most primitive drives, but she wondered if the apocalypse meant they should let go of their morals, of their higher order thinking and compassion, in order to survive or not. Would it be worth it in the end?

If they became heartless surviving shells- would that be a life worth living?

"Stop thinkin' so hard about it all and focus on finding somethin' to cook up for dinner, girl." Daryl said from beside her, his voice gentler than she had expected it to be.

"I don't want to be a heartless creature of survival, Daryl." Amity told him, ignoring his suggestion and stopping their trek before turning to face him. "I want there to be more to living than just surviving."

She took him in, standing in front of her with his dirty hair pushed back out of his eyes, his Georgia blues as breathtaking as they always were even with the intense look he was giving her.

He was a man made for survival.

He was a predator through and through, a silent hunter with the skills needed to survive whatever life threw at him, but she also knew he was more than that.

Daryl Dixon was a living example of the balance they had to find in the world, but teetered on the edge of losing all of the time. He was a rough man with a harsh attitude and less than savory manners at times- but he had a good heart, a strong protective streak, and he when he cared, he cared more than anyone could have ever thought possible of the man. He just had a hard time showing it.

The world had hurt him and beat him down before everything went to hell for everyone else- that was something that Amity knew to be true though she didn't know the details. He had seen hardship throughout his life and this hell was nothing new, different maybe, but just another day of surviving for him.

Maybe that was why he was so good at it?

Practice.

"There's more to living than just surviving." She insisted, holding his gaze as she stepped forward so she was looking up slightly at him, her body nearly pressed along his own.

Amity watched as the man's eyes flitted downwards and he seemed to be thinking really hard about something, the furrow between his brows giving him away.

Her observations were interrupted by two rough hands settling on either side of her face, one taking care to not press hard against her bandaged cheek before moving to the back of her neck as a pair of warm chapped lips pressed themselves against her own.

Her mind went completely blank for a moment, her body reacting automatically as fire seared through her from the places where his skin touched hers. She returned the kiss with eagerness, moving her lips against his as his hand that had been remaining on her cheek dropped to her lower back, pressing her firmly against him.

It was a few long moments of bliss before he was moving away and her body was left aching, her hands nearly reaching out on their own accord to pull him back but she forced herself to not.

Both archers stood still, their weapons having fallen to the forest floor beside them in their moment of passion, forgotten now as they simply stared at one another, each trying to read the other's reaction.

Amity broke the tension first, seeing the hesitance and self-doubt behind Daryl's blank expression as he looked at her.

"Let's find us some squirrels, Dixon." She suggested, offering the man a playful smile as she picked up her bow from the ground, checking it over before continuing through the woods, only throwing a teasing glance over her shoulder once at the man behind her until his nearly silent footsteps joined her's.

* * *

Michael reined in his horse as he spotted the older man, Dale, talking to Hershel, the owner of the farm, a few yards away.

He had just corralled the last of the steer back into one of the sturdier pastures and needed to let Hershel know, so even though he felt like he was interrupting something, he headed over to the pair.

"I'll leave it with Rick." Hershel was saying as Michael stopped next to the two men.

Dale looked at Hershel for a moment longer before both men looked to the former ranchhand up on the horse.

"Got the last of the cattle in, sir." Michael told Hershel who nodded at him, thanking him before heading over to Jimmy and Patricia along the pond.

Michael nodded at Dale and went to follow the farmer, but the sound of his name had him stopping.

"Michael, I know you haven't been here even a day yet, but what do you think about all of this?" Dale asked him and Michael shifted in his saddle.

"I don't know much about what is going on aside from what was said this morning." He admitted and Dale nodded.

"Based on that, what are you thinking?" The man wondered.

Michael pulled the cowboy hat off of his head, running a hand through his sweaty hair as he considered the question.

"I'm thinkin' that I'll do whatever it takes to keep my sister safe now that I've found her- if that means lettin' your people take care of the boy how they see fit then so be it." He said, knowing that wasn't the answer the older man had wanted to hear, but it was the honest one.

* * *

"Let's gather up." Rick announced to the group that was mostly milling about in front yard of the large white farmhouse.

Amity nodded and followed along inside, settling against the wall only a step further into the room than Daryl, Michael taking his place on her other side, crossing his thick arms across his broad chest as both siblings scanned the room.

"So how do we do this?" Glenn asked the awkwardly silent room. "Just take a vote?"

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea wondered

"How about majority rules?" Lori suggested.

"Well, let's- let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options." Rick said, stopping that spiraling conversation.

"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward." Shane said, not surprising Amity in the slightest when he took it upon himself to open the floor.

"Killing him, right?" Dale cut in harshly. "I mean, why even bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing."

"Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know." Rick reasoned.

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group- Maybe just me, Glenn, and Amity." The older man said.

Glenn and Amity exchanged a look before the Korean boy looked at his feet and Amity turned her eyes away from Dale, looking hesitantly back at Daryl who gave her a small nod instead of avoiding eye contact like she thought he was going to.

Dale looked taken aback by the fact that his closest friend and the former psychologist didn't seem to be on his side.

"Look, I- I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this-" Glenn began, trying to argue his case.

"They've got you scared." Dale said, his voice pained.

"He's not one of us!" Glenn insisted. "And we've- we've lost too many people already."

"Michael isn't one of us either!" Dale cut in. "He has been here for even less time than Randall and yet we are letting him stand in this room with us, letting him be a part of the group and its decisions."

"He saved Shane's life." Rick cut in at the same time Amity declared, "He's my _brother_."

"I didn't come here to cause trouble, I was invited here." Michael said evenly, his deep voice cutting through the room.

"I was just making the point that being strangers does not mean they are bad people!" Dale insisted. "When Amity came in, she came in as an obvious threat and we asked her to stay."

"She saved my life." Shane said.

"We Walkers seem to have a nasty habit of doing that, don't we?" Amity mused, looking over at her brother. "It's kind of ironic really."

"He may not be one of us, but every person has the potential to be good! To be an asset!" Dale said firmly before looking to Maggie. "How about you? Do you agree with this?" He asked her.

"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" She suggested.

"Just another mouth to feed." Daryl cut in, his voice carefully neutral as he leaned back against the frame of the opening leading into the living room, his shoulder lightly brushing Amity's.

"It may be a lean winter." Hershel added.

"We could ration better." Lori reasoned.

"Well, he could be an asset like I said." Dale reminded them. "Give him a chance to prove himself."

"Put him to work?" Glenn wondered.

"We're not letting him walk around." Rick said with a shake of his head.

"We could put an escort on him." Maggie offered up.

"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane asked, looking around the group.

"I will." Dale said and Amity nodded.

"I will as well." She chimed in, Dale looking at her with a mixture of gratefulness and surprise.

"No way." Michael said simply and Amity scoffed.

"Ain't happenin', girl." Daryl seconded and Amity had the urge to knock their heads together but luckily for the men on either side of her, Rick continued on.

"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy." Rick said, dismissing that idea.

"He's right." Lori agreed with her husband to no one's surprise. "I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up."

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor." Andrea told them all.

"Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice." Shane began, his voice patronizing. "We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his thirty men."

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt?" Dale asked loudly. "If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization."

"Oh my God." Shane muttered obviously fed up with the whole conversation.

"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel asked.

"You barely came back this time." Lori interjected immediately, looking at her husband. "There are walkers. You could break down, you could get lost."

"Or get ambushed." Daryl added.

"I could take him out on Grey, drop him off however far you'd'all like. I've been out there alone since things went to hell so it's nothin' new." Michael offered and Amity shook her head.

"You're not alone anymore, Mikey. If you go out, I go out." She told him simply.

"We should not put our own people at risk." Glenn cut in, not on board with the plan and it didn't seem like anyone else in the room was either.

"If you go through with it... how would you do it?" Patricia asked. "Would he suffer?"

"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck." Shane suggested to Rick.

"I thought about that." Rick told them all. "Shooting may be more humane."

Amity saw everyone's minds made up as she looked around the group, her arms crossing over her chest as she fought against the nasty feeling that laid within. Her love for everyone in the room had her wanting to go along with the plan to kill him, just as a reassurance that they would be safe, but her personal morals- the strongest code she had lived by in her old life were telling her otherwise. The heated battle inside of her had her head spinning a bit.

She felt a hand brush her hip bone and looked over to see Daryl looking at her with something close to concern and questioning- from their talk in the woods he knew what she was thinking about. She nodded her head at him, telling him that she was okay even though she wasn't sure it was the truth.

"And what about the body?" T-Dog asked. "Do we bury-"

"Hold on, hold on!" Dale cut in. "You're talking about this like it's already decided."

"Ya've been talking all day, going around in circles." Daryl pointed out, sounding impatient. "Ya just wanna go around in circles again?"

"This is a young man's life, and it is worth more than a five-minute conversation!" Dale all but yelled. "Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?" He asked them, eyes moving from one group member to the next.

"We all know what needs to be done." Shane said slowly.

"Nah, the man's right." Michael said, surprising the group a bit with his forwardness. Amity, however, knew to expect it. Everyone around would soon learn that her brother was an on-the-front-lines kind of guy.

He wouldn't stand back and watch things take course around him like she often did.

"We can't leave any stone unturned here." Rick agreed, nodding towards Michael. "We have a responsibility-"

"So what's the other solution?" Andrea cut in.

"Let Rick finish." Lori told the woman and Rick held up his hands to settle everyone.

"We haven't come up with a single viable option yet." Andrea continued. "I wish we could-"

"So let's work on it!" Dale yelled in frustration.

"We are." Rick snapped back.

"Stop it!" Carol called out, silencing everyone as she finally spoke. "Just stop it. I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide- either of you, both of you- but leave me out." She told the room.

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself, there's no difference." Dale told the woman, overstepping a bit.

"Alright, that's enough." Rick told him sharply before looking around the room. "Anybody who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance."

The group shifted uncomfortably, many of them dropping their eyes while Maggie and Patricia literally took a seat. Amity looked around the room, reading the people around her before shaking her head to herself.

"You once said that we don't kill the living." Dale said, trying to appeal to Rick then.

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us." Rick countered.

"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were- the world that we knew- is dead, and this new world is _ugly_. It's harsh. It's- it's survival of the fittest... and that's a world I don't wanna live in, and I don't- I don't believe that any of you do either. I can't." Dale told the group, tears beginning to form in his eyes, the emotion tearing at Amity. "Please. Let's just do what's right." He implored them, the room falling silent once more.

"Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?" He asked.

"He's right." Andrea said suddenly. "We should try to find another way."

"I agree with Dale." Amity spoke up as well. "Maybe we're talking in circles now like Daryl said, but I think the problem is a lot of us don't want to give anything else a try. We're taking the easy way out- that's not something I'm comfortable with. If this boy hurts the group then I'll be the first to put an arrow between his eyes, but we can't punish an act that hasn't happened. We can't see the future and we shouldn't be trying to play God. Sometimes living isn't about surviving... it's about emotion- _compassion_ \- beyond that."

The room fell silent after Amity's small speech, everyone avoiding the icy gaze that she turned on them except for Daryl who met her head on.

"Anybody else?" Rick asked, looking around the room but everyone avoided the leader's gaze like they did Amity's and the man turned to Dale then, letting him know that the decision had been made.

"Are y'all gonna watch, too?" Dale asked mockingly, emotion getting the best of him. "No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being."

He took a deep breath, seemingly trying to gather himself. "I won't be a party to it." He told them all before moving to leave the room, pausing only to put a hand on Daryl's shoulder, looking him in the eyes.

"This group is broken." Dale told him, before exiting the house, leaving a tension-filled silence in his wake.

As everyone began to go their separate ways, most heading for their tents like Dale had predicted, Amity sat on the railing of the front porch.

She kept her eyes trained on the path to the barn where a lantern had just disappeared being held by Rick as he led the group consisting of Daryl, Shane, and Randall to carry out the deed the group had decided on.

"This ain't sittin' right with you, huh, Bug?" Her brother's voice asked from beside of her, the tall man leaning forward against the rail she was sat on.

"Does it sit right with you?" She asked him in return.

Silence stretched between the siblings for a long beat before Michael spoke again.

"I'd do anything to keep you safe, Amity- even if it meant killin' that boy myself." He admitted to her and she looked over at him.

"I think I'd do the same for you, for anyone in this group now- but that doesn't make it _right_ , Mikey." Amity explained.

"Nah, Bug- it don't, but right and wrong might be the least of our worries these days." Michael reasoned.

"And there is where our problems lie." The redhead replied, turning back to watch the barn and waiting for the gunshot that oddly enough, never came.

Maybe they had decided to hang him instead- old law style.

It wasn't until she noticed the shadowy figures of Rick and what looked to be Carl heading towards the campsite that she hopped off the railing and headed there herself, Michael close behind her.

"We're keeping him in custody for now." Rick told everyone just as the siblings approached.

"I'm gonna find Dale." Andrea said with a smile.

Amity turned back to look at her brother, relief clear on her features as he reached out to ruffle her hair.

"I always knew you could secretly control minds." He teased.

"It's a talent of mine." Amity quipped back before a loud yell sounded across the farm. Immediately, Michael had pulled her to him, his hand drawing the gun from his belt as she unsheathed her machete that hung on her hip.

"Who was that?" She asked the group before just taking off in the direction of the yelling.

"Amity!" She heard Michael yell from behind her and then the man was hot on her heels.

"Dale!" Amity heard Andrea yell, spotting her flashlight across the field heading in the same direction they were. Amity was faster though, one of the fastest in the group aside from Glenn and she made it to Dale just after Daryl did, the man immediately tackling the walker off of him and ending it.

"Oh god." Amity gasped out, seeing the carnage on the ground in front of her before dropping to her knees beside the man, her machete laying forgotten in the grass.

"Hold on, Dale." She told the older man, his pained chokes sending a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Help! Over here!" Daryl yelled, waving his arms so that the rest of the group could find them.

"Hang in there, buddy." The man said softly to Dale, kneeling down beside them, a hand resting on Amity's lower back just as the rest of the group arrived.

"Oh my God." Andrea sobbed upon seeing the fallen man. "Oh, God."

Amity moved out of the woman's way, letting Andrea take her place beside the man she was so close to as Amity instead clung to Daryl's shirt- something she usually would have never done but she was certain that if she let go of him she would topple over.

"Alright, just listen to my voice." Rick told Dale, on his knees beside the man, taking his face between his hands. "Listen to me, alright? Just listen to me."

"Get Hershel!" Rick yelled at the group around him, someone moving to do so. "We gotta operate now."

"Hang on, Dale." Andrea told him.

Hershel pushed his way through the group, coming to a stop once he saw the man on the ground.

"What happened?" He asked.

"What can we do?" Rick said in return.

"Dale, it's gonna be okay." Glenn said, trying to comfort the man who had become a mentor to him, a trusted advisor and friend.

"Can we move him?" Rick asked.

"He won't make the trip." Hershel said hesitantly.

"You have to do the operation here." Rick told him.

"Rick." Hershel said, his voice heavy as he shook his head at the leader.

That was it then- there was nothing they could to to help the older man. Amity reached a hand up to her cheek, meaning to brush away the single tear that had escaped but a calloused hand was already there, Daryl's thumb brushing it away as he looked down at her with sadness behind his eyes.

"He's suffering." Andrea said through her tears. "Do something!"

Rick stepped forward at her plea, his hand pulling the gun from its holster on his hip just as Daryl stepped away from Amity, Michael taking his place almost immediately as he wrapped his arms firmly around her, engulfing her in hug in an attempt to shield her from the gruesome sight.

Rick's hand shook as he looked down at Dale, his aim wavering until Daryl stepped forward, gently taking the gun from the man's hand and kneeling down. He pointed the gun at Dale's head, the injured man leaning up a bit to almost press his head against the barrel- a request.

"'m sorry brother." Daryl told him before pulling the trigger.


	12. Chapter 12

The next day was a painful affair as they all found themselves gathered around in the grove of trees at the top of the hill sooner than any of them would have liked.

Amity stood with Maggie and Beth, Maggie's hand held tightly in her's with Daryl just a step behind them. A few yards away, Michael stood on top of the RV to keep eyes on the main part of the farm.

He had been uncomfortable with actively attending the funeral for a man that meant so much to everyone and wanted to make sure that their minds were at ease so they could properly mourn their friend, so he was on lookout.

Amity appreciated him that morning more than ever.

When the service concluded, Amity tucked her black fleece Northface jacket tighter around her body in hopes of keeping out the chill that had come with the turning of the seasons. She found herself as thankful for thinking to pack the jacket then as she had in the beginning for her hiking boots.

It was the simple things in life now, though she could remember spending hours trying to find just the right winter jacket to buy when she had first purchased the thing.

At that time it hadn't been just about how warm it was, but about how many of her outfits it would compliment and the brand stitched across the right side of it. The woman shook her head at herself when she thought back on it. Now she would wear a horse blanket if it meant she stayed warm.

"You coming with us?" A voice asked from beside her as she made her way down the hill and she turned to see that Shane had started walking with her.

"Where?" She asked in return, trying not to react to the fact that he was practically staring at the dark red scar that ran from the top of her cheekbone near her temple to almost the corner of her mouth.

It had been the first day that the woman had gone without a bandage, Hershel letting her know that it was safe to do so now, and everyone's reaction to it had been varying degrees of shock, and in Daryl's case, anger.

"Walker hunting." Shane explained after finally pulling himself out of the small moment he had.

"I'm in." Amity agreed, using the hair tie that she now nearly always kept around her wrist to quickly pull back her wild red locks. "Let me go grab my bow real quick."

"Meet us at the truck." Shane told her and she nodded before jogging off.

She was back at the truck in no time, smiling softly when she saw Daryl and T-Dog sitting in the bed of it. She also spotted Andrea's blonde hair in the passenger seat as Shane climbed in through the driver's door.

Amity hopped into the back of the truck to join the two men that were sat there, leaning against the side while they leaned back against the cab. She settled in near the far back, almost on the tailgate, so that the pair could have some leg room. That was until they hit a particularly rough bump that nearly sent her bouncing off the back.

Both Daryl and T-Dog grabbed for her at the same time, T-Dog moving his legs so she'd be able to scoot up while Daryl simply tugged her back until she was basically sitting between his.

T-Dog looked between the redhead and the hunter for a moment before apparently deciding not to comment on whatever was going on between them.

A smart choice really.

They soon pulled up alongside of the main fence that encircled the property, getting out to walk along it as Shane tugged at each section to check its security.

Amity kept her eyes on the ground until Andrea wandered up beside her and she looked over to exchange a sad smile with the blonde, reaching out to hook an arm around the other woman's waist and keep her close as they walked. They both needed a bit of comfort in that moment and Amity was more than willing to give it.

Only once they found the weak point in the fencing did the two women part, ducking through the fence and following along behind Daryl as he tracked the cow that had busted through it along with the walkers that were trailing it.

They went alongside a creek bed for a few yards before the Dixon man whistled, letting them know the course had changed. They followed him back up through the woods until they came across another field. Returning to the truck, the group made the quick drive over to the field where a few of the walkers were still munching on the poor steer while others were wandering aimlessly about.

The ones eating were fortunately preoccupied as the five living beings jumped out of the blue Ford, the two archers making quick work of taking out two of the walkers while Andrea ran another's head through with a pitchfork and T-Dog smashed another's skull with a hammer.

They continued down through the field without a word exchanged between them, Shane smashing another walker's head in with the shovel in his hands as they went.

Only then did they seem to gain the attention of the eating walkers.

They began to rise to their feet but two of them didn't get the chance to do so as arrows tore through their skulls. Andrea took out another while Shane dropped the last, stunning it and kicking it once it hit the ground. Andrea soon followed suit, taking out her anger and frustration on the downed walker as did T-Dog and Daryl.

Amity stood back as Shane stepped away, her eyes going from her friends' violent show of pain to the man that was just watching them with something wild behind his eyes.

* * *

Moving eleven people's belongings anywhere was hard work.

It didn't matter that they were mostly camped only a few yards from the house, but nonetheless Amity was grateful that Hershel was allowing them to move inside as the weather got colder and their perimeter got more unstable.

The redhead had already hauled her backpack, weapons, and sleeping bag into Beth's room where the girl had offered her space to stay- so she was now standing with Rick, Hershel, and the Greene girls- waiting to hear what all was going on.

"Gonna be tight, sixteen people in one house." Rick told Hershel as he watched the group continue to haul things inside the large white house.

"Don't worry about that." Hershel insisted. "With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up..."

"With fifty head of cattle on the property we may as well be ringing the damn dinner bell." Maggie finished.

"She's right." Her father agreed. "We should've moved you in a while ago."

Rick nodded at that, looking around at his people before beginning to hand out roles and instructions.

"Alright, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors- facing out toward the road." He called out. "We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sightlines both sides of the property."

He nodded once before turning to T-Dog who stood just to the left of Amity. "T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house." Rick directed. "Keep track of everyone coming and going."

"What about standing guard?" The man wondered.

"I need you and Daryl on double duty." Rick replied, catching the hunter's eye as well to make sure he had heard him.

"Gotcha." T-Dog agreed to the task.

"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be." Hershel said, moving away from the truck and towards his home.

"What about patrols?" Amity asked.

"Let's get this area locked down first." Rick told her. "After that, Shane'll assign shifts while me and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose."

"We're back to that now?" Shane asked, sounding displeased.

"It was the right plan first time around." Rick insisted. "Poor execution."

"You're tellin' me." Michael said as he came up behind his sister.

"You don't agree, but this is what's happening." Rick told Shane, ignoring Michael's interjection. "Swallow it, move on."

"You know that Dale's death and the prisoner- that's two separate things, right?" Shane asked the former sheriff and Amity exchanged a look with her brother. "You wanna take Daryl as your wingman, be my guest."

"Thank you." Rick said simply, turning to walk away and Amity decided that it was in her best interest to follow him and not stick around an annoyed Shane.

The blue Ford went past just before the familiar roar of a motorcycle engine had Amity glancing over her shoulder, smiling softly at Daryl as he passed looking more at home on his damned bike than anywhere else.

"I see why you're not taking Shane with you." Hershel told the group's leader, walking alongside him just as Amity passed by the pair with Michael at her side, the older Walker reaching out to ruffle her messy ginger waves in hopes of pulling her attention from Daryl.

"Just know I've got no more patience where he's concerned." Hershel warned.

"He's turning over a new leaf." Rick informed him.

"Amity." Rick called out, causing both of the siblings to pause, waiting for the other two men to catch up before walking alongside them.

"When I'm out with Daryl, help Hershel keep an eye on things around here." Rick requested.

"Me?" Amity asked, raising a brow.

"Shane's got a way of letting things get out of hand, especially when he's all torqued up." Rick explained.

"No kidding." Amity replied with no lack of snark.

"If you're all staying here permanently, he's got to understand that it's what Rick and I say, not whatever he wants." Hershel interjected.

"You two were close." Rick added, making Michael narrow his eyes a bit at the woman, glancing between her and Rick as he tried to figure out exactly what he meant by close.

"We talked." Amity said shortly.

"Then you know he's not a bad guy." Rick insisted and Amity looked at him like he had lost it. "He's just his own worst enemy."

"With an explosive personality, I should know." She said, an edge to her voice that surprised the three men with her.

Ever since she was injured, not once had she let it seem like the wound, and now the scar, bothered her. She had pushed her feelings about the matter to the side, but now here was Rick telling her that she knew how much of a good guy Shane was in spite of it all.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Michael asked, his deep voice hard.

"Forget it." Amity told him, but the man reached out to grab her arm, turning her to look at him as they stopped, Hershel and Rick stopping as well.

"What did you mean by that?" The former ranchhand asked again, using a tone that had Amity's eyes dropping from his, her hand raising to her cheek to brush her fingertips over the scar that sat there now.

Michael looked at her for a moment in silence, his mind seeming to mull over what had just been revealed to him before he was off towards the house like a raging bull.

"Whoa- whoa there, man." Rick said, moving in front of the man and holding up his hands like he was calming down a spooked horse.

"Move, Rick, so I can knock the head off of your friend." Michael told the former sheriff, leaving no mystery to what he had set out to do.

Amity came up alongside him then, tugging on one of his arms to pull his attention to her.

"It was an accident." She said simply, feeding the man the half truth that he needed hear or he really would end up fighting with Shane.

Her brother looked at her for a long moment, Rick standing tense nearby ready to intervene in case the eldest Walker sibling didn't buy her story.

"If he touches you again, I'll take Grey for a run and drag him along behind." Michael said simply, relief sweeping through both Rick and Amity which was an odd response to a threat- but at least it meant there wouldn't be a fight that day.

"So, will you keep an eye on things?" Rick asked Amity again once Michael was in the house and out of earshot.

"Of course." Amity promised.

* * *

Amity sat on the tailgate of the blue Ford, a truck that they had all gotten quite familiar with over the past few weeks. She leaned against the side, watching Daryl as he got his stuff together to go with Rick to drop Randall off.

"Quit starin' at me, girl." Daryl snapped at her though his voice held no heat.

"I'm not staring." Amity defended, sitting upright then. "I was thinking."

"When ain't ya thinkin'?" He replied, eyes scanning one of his arrowheads before he clipped it into his quiver.

"It's something people tend to do, Dixon- you should try it sometime." Amity suggested with a smile that only brightened as he glared at her.

The sound of footsteps approaching had the pair turning, Amity moving so her legs dangled over the tailgate when she saw it was T-Dog.

"Hey, T!" She greeted and the man offered her a smile in return.

"Here." He said to Daryl, holding out a gun to him. "Only got so many arrows." He explained.

"Is that Dale's gun?" Daryl asked, looking the piece over.

"Yeah." T-Dog confirmed.

"Wish I knew where the hell mine is." Daryl muttered and Amity raised a brow at that.

"You lost your gun?" She questioned, only receiving a flat look in response.

"Good going, Champ." She teased with a laugh as Rick came up.

"Ready?" Rick asked Daryl, not even bothering to ask what had Amity laughing.

"Yeah." Daryl confirmed, rolling his eyes at the redhead who was still shaking her head at him, a small smile on her lips.

"I'll get the package." T-Dog offered, heading off towards the shed.

"You still good about what we talked about?" Rick asked Amity and the woman nodded, ignoring the curious look they were getting from Daryl. It was obvious he didn't like being out of the loop.

"You'll have Michael, Glenn, T-Dog, and Andrea here if you need back up with anything." Rick added, seeming to reassure himself more than Amity.

"I know, Sheriff. We'll all be right as rain." Amity assured the man, playfully giving him a two fingered salute.

"Rick! Rick!" T-Dog's voice sounded across the yard and the trio around the truck looked to see him running back towards them, no Randall in sight.

"Oh shit." Amity said simply, hopping off of the tailgate with her bow in her hand as the three of them ran to meet T, following him down to the shed at his request.

The redhead heard the sound of the house's door opening, more people joining them as they were attracted by the yelling and headed for shed when they saw the four of them there.

Amity looked around the shed, eyes on the rafters as she tried to find a way that the boy slipped out.

"What's wrong?" Lori's voice asked from outside and Amity moved then to join the rest of the group, Daryl right behind her as she stepped out of the shed.

"Randall's missing." Glenn told the woman.

"You good, Bug?" Michael asked upon spotting his sister and moving from where he had been standing at Carol's side to check her over.

"Missing? How?" Lori asked, voice frantic.

"I'm fine, the kid's gone though." Amity told her brother, shaking her head and letting out a small sigh.

"How long's he been gone?" Michael asked the group.

"It's hard to say." Hershel told them.

"The cuffs are still hooked." Rick announced, coming out of the shed. "He must've slipped 'em."

"Is that possible?" Carol asked.

"It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea told her.

"The door was secured from the outside." Hershel added.

"Rick! Rick!" Shane's voice shouted from the tree line as he came stumbling into view, his eyes wild and his face bloodied.

"What happened?" Lori asked upon seeing the man.

"He's armed!" Shane yelled as he approached. "He's got my gun!"

"Are you okay?" Carl asked.

"I'm fine." Shane reassured him. "Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face."

"Alright, Hershel, T-Dog, Amity- get everybody back in the house." Rick directed. "Glenn, Daryl and, Michael- come with us."

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane said, holding out his hand as Amity gently pushed Beth back towards the house, tugging on Jimmy's arm to get him moving as well.

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it- to just let him go?" Carol said, sounding frightened as she stood by the shed, not yet moving.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick told her.

"Don't go out there! Ya'll know what can happen." Carol pleaded and Amity moved forward then, wrapping an arm around the woman's shoulders and guiding her back towards the house.

"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick ordered as he stalked off into the woods, the other four men at his side.

"Let's go!" Amity called out, picking up the pace.

"Back in the house!" T-Dog added, guiding Maggie along.

Once in the house, they made quick work of locking the doors as Rick told them to and settling in, everyone on edge as they waited for word about the situation- all hoping that it would get handled quickly and easily.

* * *

"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out." Shane told the group of men as they entered the woods. "I'm not sure how long."

"He couldn't have gotten far." Rick reasoned. "He's hobbled, exhausted."

"And armed." Glenn cut in.

"So are we." Rick replied before turning to Daryl who was scanning the ground. "Can you track him?"

"Nah, I don't see nothin'." Daryl said with a shake of his head.

"Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay?" Shane interjected. "He went that way. We need to split up. We spread out, we just chase him down. That's it." He insisted.

Michael caught the look on the hunter's face and looked at Shane then as well, sensing the panic inside the man that didn't have anything to do with the kid who was apparently on the loose with a weapon.

"Kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet." Daryl stated, making it obvious he wasn't buying the bullshit Shane was trying to feed them. "You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?"

"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane snapped back, getting defensive.

"Naw, I don't say it does." Michael drawled out, backing up Daryl before Rick cut in.

"Alright, knock it off." He told the men. "You, Michael, and Glenn start heading up the right flank." He continued, looking at Daryl as he spoke. "Me and Shane'll take the left. Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other."

With that, the group split in two- Michael casting a glance over his shoulder and catching Shane hesitating a moment before following Rick.

"Somethin' smells like bull shit." Michael told his two companions, catching Daryl nodding in agreement.

The trio walked quietly through the woods for a while, taking care not to trip over anything in the dark as the sounds of the forest around them put them on edge- them meaning mostly Glenn.

"This is pointless." Daryl growled out after a moment, coming to a stop. "Either ya got a light?"

Glenn nodded, the movement barely seen in the darkness, but soon he held up a flashlight which Daryl took before clicking it on and pointing it down at the forest floor.

He searched around for a bit, letting out a sigh of annoyance before continuing on.

A few more minutes passed in silence as the three men walked before Michael finally broke it.

"So what's goin' on with you and my baby sister?" He asked Daryl bluntly, stunning both of his companions for a moment.

"What'd'ya mean?" Daryl asked in response, not stopping their trek.

"Uh, guys, is this really the time?" Glenn interjected, but was ignored.

"I mean the way you two are always together. You're always jumpin' to protect her and she's always lookin' to you for some damn reason." Michael clarified without hesitation. "You two an item or somethin'?"

"Why ya askin'?" Daryl snapped back. "Ya don't approve? Gonna go all big brother on me?"

"Guys, this really isn't the time." Glenn tried once more.

"It was just a question, boy- get your panties out of a twist." Michael told the other man, getting all the answers he needed from the hunter's response. "Get back to doin' your trackin' thing."

Much to Glenn's relief, Daryl did just that. They walked along a moment more before Daryl spoke up.

"There's two sets of tracks right here." He announced. "Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said."

He followed the tracks with the light as they moved forward, trailing the beam up a tree to reveal blood smeared across the bark.

"There's fresh blood on this tree." He noted, sounding thoughtful as he looked at the blood before turning the light back on the ground and moving forward once more.

"There's more tracks." He said. "Looks like they're walking in tandem."

A bird call sounded from behind the trio, only Glenn looking back which had him running into the back of Daryl once he stopped.

"Sorry." The Korean boy said a bit sheepishly, but Daryl paid him no mind anyways, too focused on the story he was reading in the tracks.

He circled an area with the flashlight beam, pointing out scuffs in the dirt and leaves.

"Yeah, there was a little dust up right here." Daryl told them.

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked.

"It means that somethin' went down." Michael told the younger man.

"It's getting weird." Glenn said, sounding nervous.

"Had a little trouble." Daryl said in response, the flashlight now point at a piece of cloth on the ground which Glenn knelt down to pick up.

All three men were looking at the thing when the sound of a twig snapping nearby reached their ears. They moved quickly and fairly quietly, ducking down behind two large trees.

Daryl gave a small whistle, alerting Glenn before tossing him the flashlight and nodding at him. Michael tugged a large bowie knife from his belt, adjusting his grip on it and waiting until the walker stumbled between the two trees they were behind.

Glenn shined the light in its face, freezing once he recognized the thing as Randall before falling back as the walker lunged at him, sending him tumbling to the ground. Daryl went to take a shot, but the undead slammed into the crossbow, knocking him to the ground as well. Michael shot forward then, ripping the thing off of the hunter with pure brute strength but he miscalculated the momentum of doing so and found himself stumbling back under the weight of both himself and the walker. He fell to the ground, the undead braced over him as he struggled to keep its chomping jaws away from his face, but thankfully only a moment later Glenn had buried his weapon in the thing's skull.

Michael heaved Randall's body off of him, rolling it to the side as he took a deep breath before pushing himself to his feet, collecting his hat that had fallen off his head from the ground and replacing it on top of his dark curls before looking down at the body.

"Thanks." Michael told Glenn as Daryl shined the light on the walker's face, lightly smacking Glenn on the stomach at the sight.

"Nice." He complimented and the younger man just gave a shaky nod in return before pulling the machete from its skull.

"Got his neck broke." Daryl told the two men behind him as he crouched down next to the body. He rolled it over, searching its arms and legs then its shoulders and back before shaking his head. "He's got no bites."

"Yeah, none you can see." Glenn said, but Daryl shook his head again.

"No, I'm telling you he died from this." The hunter said, gesturing to the boy's broken neck with the flashlight.

"How is that possible?" Glenn wondered, looking between his two companions then who both exchanged a glance before Daryl rose to his feet and took off, heading back in the direction of the house.

Michael and Glenn hesitated a moment longer, their eyes still on the corpse before they looked at one another and turned, running to catch up with the only man who could make sure they found their way back to the house in the dark in the first place.

* * *

"I'm going after them." Andrea announced, standing from her place on the couch.

"Don't, they could be anywhere." Amity said with a small shake of her head, looking over at the blonde from where she sat in the doorway leading to the foyer.

"And if Randall comes back, we're gonna need you here." Lori added just as the front door opened and Amity's bow raised towards the sound before she realized who it was, Daryl pushing her hand down as he entered the room and gave it a quick scan.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" He asked.

"No." Amity told them, looking at her brother as she wondered why only half of them were back.

"We heard a shot." Daryl said.

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggested.

"We found him." Daryl told them, shaking his head.

"Is he back in the shed?" Patricia asked.

"He's a walker."

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked.

"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit." Michael told the man, sounding as perplexed about it as everyone else looked in that moment.

"His neck was broke." Daryl added.

"So he fought back." Patricia reasoned.

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other and Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him." Daryl explained. "They were together."

"Would you please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori asked, and Amity pressed her lips together, not liking how Daryl seemed to be the go-to errand boy in dangerous situations.

"You got it." The archer agreed of course, heading to the door after Lori gave his arm a gentle squeeze, thanking him.

Amity trailed along behind him, her bow still in her hands as she didn't plan on letting the man go back out in the woods alone at night.

"Girl, get back inside." Daryl said as they stepped onto the porch, not even having to check over his shoulder to know that the redhead had followed him.

Glenn and Andrea came out after she did, apparently not wanting them to go by themselves either but all four of them stopped at the porch railing as Daryl did, following the man's eyes out towards the field that the barn sat in.

The moon helped to light the field, making the hundreds of walkers that began to stumble across it visible. Amity felt like her stomach had fallen to her feet as she reached out, gripping the sleeve of Daryl's jacket tightly as they all watched the undead for a long silent moment.

"Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel told the blonde woman after having come outside to witness the terror himself, Maggie and Jimmy at his side.

"I'll get the guns." Maggie said, moving to go into the house before Glenn interrupted.

"Maybe they're just passing, like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?" He suggested.

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about." Daryl said in response. "A herd that size'll rip the house down."

"Carl's gone." Lori said frantically, coming out of the house just after Maggie had disappeared inside.

"What?" Daryl asked.

"H-he was upstairs." She explained. "I can't find him anymore."

"Maybe he's hiding." Glenn suggested.

"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy." Lori said harshly.

"We're not." Carol told her. "We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him." The woman reassured her friend, leading the rush back inside, but Amity stayed put where she was, looking between her brother and Daryl before turning blue eyes back to the impending death march heading their way.

The sound of footsteps coming back outside had her turning around to see Maggie carrying out the bag of guns, laying it down on the porch before she began distributing them.

"Maggie." Glenn said, sounding confused as the woman handed him a loaded gun.

"You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two." She explained and if the situation wasn't so shitty, Amity would have laughed.

"I got the number." Daryl interjected, watching Amity pick up her gun from the bag and check to see if it was fully loaded before pocketing more ammo. "It's no use."

"You can go if you want." Hershel said, cocking the gun in his hands.

"You gonna take 'em all on?" Daryl asked the man, looking at him like he was crazy.

"We have guns. We have cars." Hershel told him.

"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm." Andrea said, catching on just as Amity had.

"Are you serious?" Daryl asked him.

"This is my farm. I'll die here." Hershel said simply before moving off to one side of the porch.

"Alright then." Amity said, quickly pulling her hair back so she wouldn't be blinded during the impending fight for their lives.

"It's as good a night as any." Daryl decided before hopping over the railing, Amity following moments after.

"Shit." Michael cursed as he hopped down beside of her, making the redhead look at him with concern.

"I gotta go get Grey." He explained and Amity looked at him like he had gone off the deep end, which apparently he had.

"What?" She hissed.

"Can't leave him behind in a stall to get tore up after everythin' we've been through together, Bug. That ain't right." Michael told her and she pinched the bridge of her nose before looking towards the stables and at the walkers getting closer and closer to them.

"Fuck- fine! _Fine_ , okay- let's go get your stupid horse and I'll grab one as well. We get in, get on, and get the hell out of dodge, okay?" She commanded and Michael just nodded at her, reaching out to ruffle her hair even though it was pulled up in a ponytail before he pulled out his gun.

"Let's go, kid."

With that, the Walker siblings sprinted across the grounds from the house as engines roared to life behind them.

"Pick up the pace, Slick!" Amity hissed to her brother, easily sprinting ahead of them as the field got significantly brighter all at once. She glanced over her shoulder to see the barn go up in flames, walkers beginning to wander towards that while their group rode back and forth along the fence line, blowing up heads.

She reassured herself by seeking out the familiar motorcycle before focusing on the task at hand.

As they approached the stable, she could hear the panicked whinnies of the horses inside and she pulled back an arrow, letting it skewer the skull of a walker wandering too close for comfort.

The siblings burst into the stables and immediately her brother went for the stall his horse stood in while Amity ran down the aisles, opening each stall and chasing the horses out of the barn in hopes that it would give them a fighting chance of outrunning the horde and getting away.

The last stall she opened was of her old friend, Jax. She grabbed a bridle from the wall and quickly slid it over his head, leading him into the aisle just as her brother did the same with Grey.

"Change of plan. We've gotta help them clear the area. Ride back to the house, keep your distance but shoot until you have no room left to move _then_ get the hell out of dodge." Amity told her brother and the man nodded, crouching down to quickly give her a leg up onto the horse's bare back before he leapt up on his own steed.

"Ya!" Michael yelled, kicking Grey on just as Amity did the same to Jax and the pair galloped up to the house, dodging walkers when they could and shooting them when they couldn't.

It was chaos.

Amity thought the world resembled hell before, but with that many of the undead tearing apart such a beautiful place, a place that they had all felt safe in, she knew that the world they once had known was officially lost for good.

The siblings stayed on the outskirts of the walker horde, shooting until they all but ran out of ammo- saving their last rounds for if they got into a tight spot.

They watched as the cars left the farm one-by-one and slowly let themselves get backed up to the road. A yell sounded from nearby and both Michael and Amity recognized it immediately.

"Carol?!" Michael yelled back, distress clear on his face as they spotted the woman running along the fence line with walkers stumbling along close behind.

"Go get her!" Amity told her brother who glanced back at her then to Carol once more, looking torn.

"Michael, go!" She insisted, before a gunshot sounded from the direction of the shed and Amity turned to see Andrea firing shot after shot into the walkers- seemingly all alone.

"Go get Carol! I got Andrea!" She insisted, leaving no room for argument as she kicked Jax on back towards the madness.

Michael hesitated before cursing to himself and turning Grey, kicking him on towards the direction of Carol.

Amity lead her steed through the walkers the best that she could, pulling him to quick stops then kicking him on as she fought to reach where Andrea was trying to stand her ground.

"Andrea!" She yelled, getting the blonde's attention who looked at her with wide eyes.

"Amity! Look out!" The woman yelled in return and the redhead felt her horse buckle beneath her, a walker ripping out the tendon in one of his legs and sending Amity falling hard into the ground over his head.

The horse fought to stand as Amity did, his shrill screams of pain causing the woman to roll over and use one of her last bullets to end his suffering before she stumbled to her feet. Looking around her, Amity fought to kick a walker back from her as she searched for Andrea who had disappeared.

"Shit shit shit shit shit." She cursed to herself, snatching her bow off of the ground from where it had fallen before hauling ass through the walkers, thankful for her steed's last sacrifice to her- his own body for the walkers to chow down on.

The redhead had nearly reached the gate, pushing her shaking legs even harder though she felt like she was running through mud. It was like in a bad dream where you ran as hard and as fast as you could, but to no avail.

You were running in place.

She was snapped out of her exhausted reflections by a hand latching on to her arm, a scream leaving her as she came face-to-face with a bloody walker.

She pushed it back, trying to wedge a foot up between them to push it off of her before she ended up losing her balance.

A shot rang out from the direction of the gate, the walker gripping her falling as Amity ripped herself away from it and began running again, spotting her savior sitting on a motorcycle.

"Come on, girl! I ain't got all day!" Daryl yelled, his heart racing in his chest as he watched the redhead cross the last stretch to him, walkers hot on her ass.

"Go! Go!" Amity told him as soon as she was even semi-seated, her arms wrapping tightly around his middle as he gunned it and they found themselves flying down the dirt road leading from the farm.

They continued a steady pace down a backroad, Amity keeping a look out for any sign that her brother or anyone else had been through or were still around, but she didn't see hide nor hair of anyone.

Resting her cheek against the cool leather of Daryl's vest, Amity allowed herself a moment to close her eyes and count to 10 before opening them and dealing with whatever the world threw her way next.

They finally reached the highway that they had gotten stopped on before Sophia was lost and Amity realized only then where Daryl was headed.

It wasn't even five minutes more until she spotted a familiar truck coming off of a side road and slapped Daryl's arm, making him grumble at her before she yelled over the roar of the engine.

"I see the blue Ford!"

At that Daryl slowed down a bit, letting the truck catch up before they kept on heading to where they had left supplies for Sophia.

A few moments later they came across a Hyundai driving ridiculously slow down the nearly empty highway and they slowed down as well, coming up on it steadily until they realized that the reason it was basically crawling was due to the horse and rider trotting alongside it.

A sob escaped Amity's throat at the sight of her brother sitting on his stupid horse he risked his life for with his stupid cowboy hat on his head. As he spotted her on the back of the bike, he seemed to have nearly the same reaction of relief.

Daryl revved his engine as a sign that it was time to pick up the pace and as they shot past the Hyundai, Amity was relieved to see that Carol was sitting in the backseat.

With Michael following along the back of the caravan at a steady gallop, they made it to the site where they had left the supplies in pretty good time. They drove carefully across the grassy divide of the highway, surprised and relieved to see a familiar red vehicle parked there as well.

Daryl cut the engine of the bike as Amity climbed off, throwing herself at her brother who returned the embrace, pressing a kiss into her messy red hair before reaching out a hand to Daryl around her. Daryl eyed it for a moment before reaching out and shaking the man's hand, a silent moment passing between them as Amity clung to her brother's torso out of pure relief.

It took a while for the woman to pull away from him, but she did eventually let him go and made the rounds to hug everyone else who had made it, clinging to Carol for a long while as the woman told her how glad she was to see her alive.

"I thought he was going to lose it when you didn't turn up." Carol said, speaking about Michael. "We waited at the edge of the woods until we couldn't any longer but he kept stopping along the way, waiting for you to catch up."

Amity shook her head at her brother's protective love that made him so stupid sometimes and hugged the woman once more before going to Daryl's side as he leaned against one of the abandoned cars that circled off where they were standing. She was only half surprised to see Michael settle in next to Carol instead of coming to her side.

"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked Daryl, seeing as they had been leading the caravan.

"Well, with those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road figured he had to be Asian driving like that." Daryl explained, causing Amity to roll her eyes as Glenn just laughed.

"Good one." He told the hunter.

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked.

"We're the only ones who made it so far." Rick told him.

"Shane?" Lori asked, her voice shaking. Rick just shook his head, his eyes going to the ground as his jaw jumped.

"Andrea?" Glenn asked.

"She saved me, then I lost her." Carol told everyone.

"We saw her go down." T-Dog added.

"I saw her trying to make a stand when Michael went to get Carol. I tried to get to her but... but I went down." Amity recounted, trying not to think of the poor horse that was taken out from under her. "When I got back up she had disappeared."

"Patricia?" Hershel asked.

"They got her, too." Beth told her father, crying as she did so. "Took her right in front of me. I was holdin' onto her, daddy. She just... what about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?" She asked.

"He was in the RV. It got overrun." Rick told her, another sob leaving the young girl at that.

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asked Amity and the woman nodded.

"There were walkers everywhere, when I got up I barely got out." Amity told her. "If they weren't so distracted by... by the horse then I wouldn't have."

Michael moved by Carol and Daryl then, draping an arm over Amity's shoulders in hopes of providing her with a bit of comfort.

"Did you see her?" Carol asked again and Amity shrugged her shoulders, not having a good answer for her. She didn't know what happened to the blonde- she was there and then she wasn't.

"I'm gonna go back." Daryl said suddenly, heading for his bike.

"No." Rick said, stopping him.

"We can't just leave her." Daryl insisted.

"We don't even know if she's there." Lori reasoned.

"She isn't there." Rick told them. "She isn't. She's somewhere else or she's dead. There's no way to find her."

"So we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asked, sounding surprised but Amity wasn't. She already accepted when she found herself alone at the farm that no one was going to come looking for her except maybe Michael, but then Daryl had shown up and saved her life.

"We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here." Rick told everyone.

"I say head east." Michael suggested.

"Stay off the main roads." Daryl added, going to his bike and grabbing his crossbow. "The bigger the road, the more walkers, more assholes like this one." He stated, moving towards an undead that had wandered up as he aimed his bow. "I got him."

With a loud thwang the arrow released and pierced the walker's eye.

The group loaded up then, taking the usable supplies that were around and piling into the red suburban and the Hyundai aside from Daryl who was on his bike.

Amity watched her brother stand in front of his horse, his hands on either of Grey's face as he rested his forehead against the horse's. He was muttering something as he stood, his hat sitting on the hood of a nearby car. She watched Rick stick his head out of the window, looking to see what the hold up was but he fell silent upon seeing Michael.

Without a word to anyone, the former ranchhand slid the bridle from his horse's head, rubbing his hand down the bridge of his nose one last time before stepping away and dropping the now useless piece of equipment onto the road.

"Get." Michael said simply, but the horse didn't move. The horse and rider looked at one another for a long moment, neither moving until Michael finally did. He headed straight for the Hyundai, motioning for the driver to open the trunk and without a word he climbed in the back, leaning against a couple of bags before he pulled the trunk shut, hiding him from sight.

"Ya ridin' with me, girl?" Daryl asked, breaking the silence that followed the scene and Amity nodded, moving to climb on the back of the motorcycle just as Daryl brought it roaring to life. She looked over to see the rest of the vehicles now beginning to move, the motorcycle pulling out last.

Once they were heading down the highway, Amity glanced over her shoulder to see Grey just beginning to move off the road, heading towards the woods. She turned back around after a few moments, leaning her cheek against Daryl's back and let herself enjoy the ride, even if it was cold as hell.

They had been driving for a couple of hours, Daryl and Amity now leading the caravan when they heard a loud honk sound from behind them. Amity turned in her seat to see what was going on and noticed the suburban slowing down so she patted Daryl's shoulder, letting him know to stop.

"You out?" Daryl asked Rick as he approached, staying on his bike as Amity climbed off to join her brother.

She ran a comforting hand down the man's arm, getting a small sad smile in return.

"Running on fumes." Rick replied.

"We can't stay here." Maggie told the group.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn countered.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning." Rick told them.

"Spend the night here?" Carol asked, not sounding on board with the plan as she tucked her cardigan tighter around her. Movement from beside her caught Amity's eye and she looked to see her brother stripping off his heavy jean jacket before holding it out to Carol.

The woman hesitated a moment, looking confused by the action before she carefully took the garment from him with a small thank you.

Amity tried her best to not smile at the pair as her brother just gave Carol a small nod in return before settling back at Amity's side.

"I'm freezing." Carl said, cuddling up close to his mother as Rick stripped off his jacket to give to him like Michael had done for Carol.

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori suggested.

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close." Daryl told everyone, looking to Amity pointedly. "Only got so many arrows. How you doing on ammo?"

"Not enough." Rick replied and Michael said the same.

"Only got so many arrows." Amity told Daryl, echoing his words as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to conserve her body heat. She had never been good with the cold, but she already knew that it was time to shut up and put up.

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out." Maggie told them.

"Watch your mouth." Hershel scolded. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."

"Alright, we'll set up a perimeter." Rick directed. "In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie offered.

"No, we stay together." Rick told her. "God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn pointed out.

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other." Rick said, looking around the group as he spoke. "I wasn't sure, I really wasn't, but we did it. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."

"Rick, look around." Glenn told him. "Okay? There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something."

Migration? That was an interesting thought.

Amity found herself wondering if that would give any hint to where this animalistic instinct was fortifying itself in the brain, but then she froze.

" _No_ , no, no no." She said randomly began spouting, her hands going to her face to cover her eyes as she took a moment.

"Amity?" Michael asked, moving closer to her with concern.

"I have to go back!" Amity said, causing the man to look at her like she was insane.

"What are ya on 'bout, Cherry?" Daryl asked, having moved towards her as well when she first began her meltdown.

"I left it all! I'm so stupid." She said, uncovering her face as she looked at the two men next to her with absolute desperation. "I left the research, the brain scans- everything I had been working on. Everything that could have helped!" She rambled, Michael not having a clue what she was going on about, but the rest of the group did.

"That's not important, Amity." Lori said from where she was and the redhead looked at her like she had just kicked her puppy.

"Not important?" She echoed in disbelief. "Lori, that has the information that could end this thing!" She snapped at the woman. "That could end us losing people due to a bite!"

"It's a pipe dream, like the men in the bar said." Hershel told her, his voice gentle.

"I-It's not!" Amity protested. "It's the key to what's going on! I-It could help!" She insisted, moving to take a step forward as if she was going to walk her happy ass all the way back to the overrun farm for a notebook.

A hand on her arm stopped her, calloused fingers gripping her chin and turning her head until she was confronted with a pair of eyes as blue as the Georgia sky in the summer.

"Amity, it's gone." Daryl told her firmly, his words leaving no room for argument. "It's gone just like the farm and you're not goin' back."

The words got through to her coming from the hunter, from a man that she knew wouldn't lie to her, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Shoving him away, Amity wordlessly headed towards the woods, stopping just before the tree line so that no one would feel like they had to follow her.

She took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together as she stared out in to the woods, lacing her fingers together behind her head, feeling completely and utterly lost for the first time since she had found the group in the quarry.

"There's gotta be a place, not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other." Rick was saying from the road, trying to bring back some hope after the breakdown of their group's number one support, their stability when things went wobbly. "I know it's out there. We just have to find it."

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure." Maggie told him, making a good point. "For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe."

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel reassured her.

"We'll make camp tonight over there, get on the road at the break of day." Rick directed, pointing off in front of where Amity was stood.

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked, the woman looking between Michael and Daryl for an answer.

"What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" Beth asked, moving to Rick's side just as Amity wandered back to join the group.

She was still hurting and she still felt directionless, but she had enough of her head to put on a neutral face and be involved with what was happening in with the group though many of its members looked at her with caution or concern.

"Ya know I found Randall, right?" Daryl told Rick as Amity paused at his side. "He had turned, but he wasn't bit."

"How's that possible?" Beth asked.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori questioned her husband.

"Shane killed Randall." Daryl told her, piecing everything together since he already had his suspicions. "Just like he always wanted to."

"And then the herd got him?" Lori asked.

Rick looked around, not really seeing any of them as he seemed to struggle with something for a long moment.

"We're all infected." He revealed finally, his voice tight.

"What?" Daryl asked, disbelief clear in his voice.

"At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it." Rick told them all.

"And you never said anything?" Amity asked, feeling betrayed by the man she had trusted to lead them all this time.

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick asked.

"Yes." Amity snapped, still not completely stable after losing what she saw as a potential cure, and now finding out that another piece to the puzzle that she could have been using to consider with this thing was being hidden from her all along. She took a step back, her knees hitting the guard railing as the rest of the group sought out their own answers from the former sheriff.

"You knew this whole time?" Glenn asked, hurt.

"How could I have known for sure? You saw how crazy that mo-" Rick began but Glenn cut him off.

"That is not your call, okay." He snapped. "When I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone."

"Well, I thought it best that people didn't know." Rick replied hotly, his eyes roving over the group to stare each of them down before he turned and walked away, leaving them with his revelation.

Amity rested her head in her hands, only looking up when someone nudged her foot and she found that it was Daryl who had done so.

"Come on." He requested and she just looked at him. With a small huff the man moved forward, grabbing her arms gentler than she expected and hauled her to her feet. "Come on." He repeated and this time, she listened.

Moving along behind the hunter, she followed him over to where they were apparently going to make camp that night and then some. They disappeared further into the woods, walking until Daryl turned and Amity bumped into his chest when she didn't realize he had stopped.

"Get outta that head of yers, girl." Daryl told her and Amity shook her head, her eyes on the leaves beneath their feet instead of on him.

"Ya can't do this, not now." The man said, crooking a finger under her chin and tilting her head up so that her eyes met his. "They look to ya now- for comfort, for stability. Ya can't just offer that all the time then take it away when things get tough." He practically scolded her.

A stretch of silence passed between them then Amity was nodding her head, knowing that he was right.

"Ya don't need that stuff, yer research and whatever." Daryl continued, still holding her gaze. "Ya don't need a cure to keep livin'. Ya don't have to just survive in this world, you can live in it all the same- cure or no."

It was those words that reached her the most, the echo of what she had told him only a few days ago but what felt like years prior. Without a word Amity stepped forward, stretching up to press her lips against Daryl's for the first time since they had had a conversation so similar to this one.

The man stiffened at first before relaxing under her touch, slowly kissing her back, an arm wrapping around her waist to hold her closer against him.

It was then, standing in the woods with Daryl so near to her that she could feel his heart pounding through his jacket, that she knew she would be living in this world- not just surviving.

Their group wasn't a group of survivors- they were more than that, had been all along.

Pulling back after a few long moments, Amity looked up at the man with a small smile, her chest heaving slightly as she caught her breath.

"I still need to thank you for coming back for me." Amity told him after a beat of silence and Daryl shook his head.

"Ya ain't gotta thank me for that." He said before he leaned down, stealing a soft kiss from the woman- an action that had her heart racing in her chest- before he headed back in the direction of the others.

* * *

"We're not safe with him." Carol whispered to the Walker siblings and Daryl that evening once they were all gathered around the fire they had built. "Not with him keeping something like that from us." She clarified before her eyes turned to Daryl.

"Why do you need him?" She asked the man, making Amity's brows furrow together slightly. "He's just gonna pull you down."

"No." Daryl told her, shaking his head. "Rick's done alright by me."

"You and Amity are his henchman, Michael's an outsider, and I'm a burden." She continued, sounding distressed. "You deserve better."

Amity wasn't sure what had gotten into Carol, whether it was remnants of panic from the farm or leftover blame that she still held for Rick about Sophia but either way Amity was uncomfortable. She was mad at Rick, sure, but she wasn't going to abandon him. He had done right by her as well, and he was a friend.

She didn't know what she would do if Daryl took Carol's words to heart though and the pair left.

Would she follow?

She wasn't sure, but she knew that Daryl's loyalty wouldn't let him leave the group anyways.

He was good like that.

"What do you want?" Michael asked the woman, leaning forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees as he met her eyes.

"A man of honor." Carol told him, her fingertips ghosting over the collar of his jacket that was still pulled over her shoulders.

"Rick has honor." Daryl cut in, ending that conversation as he tossed another few sticks into the fire.

"I think we should take our chances." Maggie told her family from their place across the circle.

"Don't be foolish." Hershel said. "There's no food, no fuel, no ammo."

The cracking of sticks sounded from the woods behind them and immediately Daryl and Amity were on their feet, her bow drawing back as he grabbed his crossbow from where it sat nearby.

"What was that?" Beth asked, blue eyes wide with fear.

"Could be anything." Daryl told them. "Could be a raccoon, could be a possum."

"Walker." Glenn added as the rest of the group began to rise.

"We need to leave." Carol insisted. "I mean, what are we waiting for?"

"What we need to do is calm down." Amity told everyone, keeping her voice low and even as she looked around the space.

"You're one to talk." Maggie said, catching Amity off-guard with her harshness, but the woman didn't take the bait. She knew that everyone was just on edge and the young woman had just lost her home and more.

"Which way?" Glenn asked, cutting over the two women.

"It came from over there." Maggie replied.

"Back from where we came." Beth added.

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark. We don't have the vehicles. No one's traveling on foot." Rick told them all, his tone ringing with finality.

"Don't panic." Hershel added, trying to soothe the group.

"I'm not, I'm just not sitting here waiting for another herd to blow through." Maggie said, the tension obviously getting to her. "We need to move, _now_.

"No one is going anywhere." Rick stated simply.

"Do something." Carol hissed at the man.

"I am doing something!" Rick snapped at her. "I'm keeping this group together- _alive_. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for _this_. I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake!" He revealed and the group fell silent.

Amity looked to her brother before her eyes turned to watch Rick's expression, trying to read him as she had tried to read his old friend so many times. He killed Shane, she knew that the men had been butting heads, but to _kill_ someone because you didn't see eye to eye... that was a whole different monster.

"You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he _threatened_ us." Rick continued, trying to explain himself. "He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but _he_ came after _me_."

Shane had been farther gone than Amity ever suspected if what Rick was saying was true- if he tried to kill his friend to get what he wanted, then he had fallen hard and fast into his insanity. A bit of guilt spiked in her for not catching that, or for not accepting what she had seen.

She was supposed to help people like Shane, not leave them to their own devices until they hurt someone else or indirectly themselves.

"My hands are clean." Rick told them as his son sobbed against Lori's chest, the woman not seeming surprised by her husband's revelation.

"Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe- maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard." Rick snapped at them.

Amity caught her brother looking at her out of the corner of her eye, seeming more ready to go than ever, but Michael didn't have the same connections to the group that Amity did. He didn't yet understand the loyalty she felt to the people around her so she shook her head at him, letting him know that she was going to stay.

"Go on, there's the door." Rick insisted. "You can do better? Let's see how far you get." He paused, letting his words hang for a moment before nodding once. "No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight if you're staying..."

He paused, taking the time to meet each and everyone of their gazes.

"This isn't a democracy anymore."


	13. Chapter 13

Winter was dragging on.

They were in the dead of it, Amity reasoning that it had to be around January or February due to the intensity of the cold and the amount of snow that had fallen.

Traveling was harder and more treacherous than ever due to icy roads with no maintenance keeping them clear.

The redhead was thankful for the truck that Daryl had found to haul his bike- him and Michael getting it running with the helping hand of Glenn and now both of the Walkers, Daryl, and Carol rode in it.

It was a large thing, a bit of a gas guzzler, but it had four-wheel drive and a hitch that helped haul the Hyundai and Suburban out of pretty sticky situations when they happened.

The vehicles slowed to a stop outside of a small storage lot, the whole scene briefly reminding Amity of one of the television shows she would binge watch on the weekends about people who bid on the storage units that had been abandoned, hoping for some hidden treasures.

As Rick climbed out of the Suburban, Amity stuck her head out the window of the passenger's side where she rode.

"Pit stop or?" She asked and Rick shook his head.

"We need to wait out this storm, look at the sky." He told the woman and she did as directed, noticing the dark striated clouds up above.

"Fair enough." She muttered to herself before falling back into her seat and rolling the window back up.

"We're going to be hunkering down for a bit." She announced to the vehicle.

"Thank goodness, maybe we can get some actual sleep." Carol said, zipping up the large thermal jacket she had found for the winter, flipping the hood up over her head before shouldering her bag and climbing out.

"If only." Michael said after she shut the door behind her, looking at his sister with exhaustion evident behind his eyes. It was a look that all of them bore due to the lack of food and time to properly sleep, not to mention the illness that often came with cold.

Amity herself hadn't been able to properly breathe out of her nose for weeks. Hershel checked her daily to make sure a fever hadn't set in.

It was taking a toll on them all.

The redhead bundled her second jacket, a thick work coat made out of a canvas-like material, around her before grabbing her bow and bag off of the floorboard of the truck and closing the door behind her.

She turned to the area to see that the cars were parked in behind each of the storage units to hide them from sight, all placed for a quick getaway if needed. T-Dog seemed to be fastening a chain around the front gate while Rick ushered everyone inside of a fairly clean unit that had mostly furniture stored away in it.

As she walked, footsteps fell in step with her and she glanced over to see Daryl walking at her side. She offered the man a small smile before turning her head as she coughed harshly into the crook of her elbow, a hand rubbing her back gently as she did so. Amity hated being sick- she always had, but she was living by the motto of, "shut up and put up" meaning she never spoke a word of complaint about it.

"Feelin' any better?" Daryl asked as they walked, his hand now dropping from her back as her small fit passed.

The archers had gotten closer over the past few months, long hours spent together in the same vehicle and most recently, him settling down beside her so she could take advantage of his body heat, had led to them getting to know each other more than Amity would have ever guessed they would when she first met him outside of Atlanta.

The man was definitely layered and she found herself fascinated and fond of each aspect of his personality that he slowly revealed to her.

She discovered that he felt more at home in the woods than in a house, that he had never tried sushi and told her that if she would have tried to take him to a sushi bar in the old world, he would have laughed in her face. He didn't know what a pressed juice was but he was a meat eater through and through- something Amity and him bickered about for a couple of days much to the chagrin of their other two car companions when she said fruits were better than any kind of meat by far.

It was a slow process, getting to know Daryl Dixon, but it was worth it.

"A bit." Amity told the man and he narrowed his eyes at her, not believing a word she said. "It's the same as it has been, Dixon." She revised. "No better, no worse."

"We need to find ya some medicine." Daryl told her and she just shook her head.

"It's not worth the risk of a run in the snow." She argued.

"It'll be worth it if ya get worse and we can't do anything then." He said sharply, concern for her getting the best of his temper.

Amity shook her head again, stomping the snow from her sturdy winter boots so that she wouldn't track it into their unit.

"There's plenty of space to spread out in here. A couple of couches and some thick rugs. Pick a corner and get some shut eye- I've got first watch, then Daryl, then Amity." Rick told them once everyone was huddled inside.

"Rick, Amity needs more sleep- this cold is kickin' her ass. I'll take her shift." Michael chimed in as he settled his bag down next to where Carol had placed hers.

"Fat chance, Slim." Amity told the man. "I'm sick, not helpless. I'll still pull my weight."

Rick looked between the pair for a moment before shaking his head a bit at their bickering.

"I'll stick with what I said, Mike. We'll trade out everyone's shift tomorrow so we will all have a chance to rest a full night." Rick said, trying to reassure the former ranchhand who did not look pleased.

Amity just sent her brother a look then moved out of the way of everyone who was trying to hunt down a corner to settle in before they lost the light through the one window high above them in the unit.

The redhead moved to snag one of the smaller couches, the thing only two cushions long but it was squishy and she nearly let out a small moan as she sunk into it.

So much better than sleeping in a car seat.

She noticed Daryl grabbing one of the rugs, moving to roll it out next to where she was laying but she stopped his actions by reaching out to gently touch his wrist, pausing when he flinched before slowly laying her hand back against his skin.

"There's room for two, Dixon. Give that rug to T and I'll trade you a place on the couch for your ridiculous body heat." She offered with a playful smile.

Amity watched as the man considered what she said, nearly seeing the gears turning in his head before he nodded a bit shyly and went to hand off the rolled up rug to T-Dog who looked at him curiously until Daryl sat down on the small couch with her.

He stayed sat on the very end for a moment, not seeming to know what to do next so Amity scooted over towards the back cushions as much as she could before reaching out to gently tug him back to lay down, using the cushioned armrest as a pillow.

"There's a blanket on top of my bag if you can reach it." Amity told him, her voice a low whisper as everyone else had pretty much settled down to sleep.

Daryl shifted at that, apparently reaching for the blanket since the grungy thing was tossed over the pair a moment later.

As she began to defrost a bit, a small sniffle escaping her, Amity let out a tiny sigh and relaxed against the tension-filled man.

"Calm down, Dixon. I only bite if asked to." She told him, laughing lightly as the man flicked her forehead in response.

Her teasing words seemed to do the trick though as he slowly released his tensed muscles, relaxing back into the cushions as he slid an arm under her shoulders so they would have a bit more room.

"Night, Dixon." Amity said softly, already half-asleep.

"G'night, Cherry."

* * *

The mystery illness that Amity had taken a turn for the worst only a few days after they had moved into the storage units.

She woke up one morning alone on the small couch, something she was thankful for when she realized that she had sweat through her clothing that night though shivers now wracked her body. She couldn't move, her skin feeling like she had a bad sunburn while her breath wheezed out of her before coughs tore through her chest.

"Amity?" A small voice asked from nearby and the woman looked over to see Beth looking at her with concern.

"Beth, please get your dad." Amity asked her, her voice a rough whisper. "And tell Rick that I'm going to have to be moved to another unit. I can't get all of y'all sick."

The young blonde looked at her with concern before rushing off to do what she said, returning with Hershel and Michael only a few minutes later.

"Rick said he wants daddy to look over you first before we think about moving you." Beth told her gently. "You might not even be contagious."

The former veterinarian sat down on the edge of the couch, gently checking the glands on Amity's neck and feeling her forehead before making her open her mouth so he could shine a flashlight down her throat. The check-up didn't take long, but it concluded with the fact that she may have come down with something close to the flu.

"We have to quarantine her, Rick." Hershel told their leader who had joined them a few moments before.

"No." Michael told them, shaking his head. "Where she goes, I go."

"We can't risk you getting sick as well, Mike. We need every capable person to help keep this place safe until she recovers." Rick told the man, trying to make him see sense past his panic.

A bit of panic had settled into Amity's mind as well. Even with the luxury of hospitals and modern medicine people had died from the flu every year. Now, with nothing but a couple of fever reducers and a cold metal room- how would she recover?

Would she recover?

An hour later Amity was being settled in to her own unit, the space nearly empty as it seemed the previous owner of the unit hadn't wanted to make the most of his money or had moved nearly everything out before things went to hell, but at least there was a mattress and she was wrapped in layers of blankets.

Now alone, Amity let herself close her eyes for a long moment and decided to pray.

She didn't pray for herself, not even for her recovery from her sickness.

She prayed for her family- new and old.

She prayed that no one else got sick and that if she couldn't recover, her brother would still continue on. That he would be happy and that Daryl wouldn't close himself off from everyone. She prayed that things got easier for them, not harder.

The sound of yelling outside of the unit pulled the woman from her prayers, recognizing the southern twang and realizing that Daryl must have gotten back from his hunting trip.

"Ya can't just leave her alone when she's _sick_!" The man yelled and Amity nearly sighed, appreciating the man who seemed to be her constant defender, but hoping someone would talk some sense into him.

"Daryl, man- listen to me. No one else can risk getting sick. We can't risk it with Lori, Carl." Rick tried to explain and Amity heard the door handle to the unit rattle before stilling as Rick spoke again, apparently having stopped Daryl from going inside. " _You_ can't get sick, man. We need you. _She_ needs you."

There was a long moment of silence before Michael spoke up, her brother apparently having been out there as well.

"I'm gonna make a run into the nearest town to strip down their pharmacy and stores- see if I can find anythin' stronger to help her kick this thing's ass." Michael told him, a long pause stretching out before he spoke again.

"She'll kick this thing's ass, Daryl." He reassured the other man, his voice quiet to where Amity had to strain to hear him. "I'd appreciate some company if you're in."

Amity wanted to call out, to tell both of the guys that she didn't want them risking a run for her, but she was exhausted and blackness was creeping in on the edges of her vision.

"Yeah, I'm in." Daryl responded and that was the last thing Amity heard before she drifted off to sleep.

The next few days blurred together. There was times when she was sat up and given water, barely able to swallow it herself as someone gently massaged her throat to help the process. Stale crackers were sat in her mouth for her to try to eat, to try to keep down. She had wet rags placed on her forehead and medicine put on her tongue before being washed down her throat with a swig of water.

She didn't know who was doing what to her or why and there were only flashes of consciousness before one day, she woke up just as if she had went to bed normally the night before.

The redhead pushed herself up on an elbow, blearily looking around her as she was confused at her settings. She felt weak- shaky, and that scared her more than anything.

She didn't have the luxury of feeling weak- not in this world.

Movement from the far corner of the room caught her attention and she realized that there was a person sat leaning against the wall in the corner, their figure shrouded in shadows in a way that she couldn't make out who it was.

"Hello?" She called out, her voice rough from disuse, making her cough lightly from the effort.

The figure jerked up, before standing and stepping forward to look at Amity with a bit of disbelief behind their eyes, like they couldn't believe she was talking to them.

"Daryl?" She said, trying to understand why he was looking at her like that and hopefully snapping him out of it.

"Amity." He said, the word coming out like a sigh of relief as he moved forward to kneel on the ground beside the mattress she was laying on.

"What's going on?" She asked him, reaching out a shaky hand to gently lay on top of his. He flipped his palm up immediately, his calloused fingers closing around hers and giving them such a gentle squeeze that it was nearly undetectable.

"Ya've been sick, girl- real sick. Nearly got yer brother outta his mind with worry." Daryl told her, his voice giving away that Michael hadn't been the only one worried about her.

"Sick?" She echoed before nodding lightly. "I remember that. You and Michael said you were going for a run." She added and he raised a brow, not expecting her to know about that at all.

"That was nearly a week ago, Cherry." He told her slowly and her eyes widened a bit.

"A week?" She whispered and he nodded.

"Ya scared me, girl." He admitted, his voice nearly as quiet. "Me and Michael went out and brought back what we could for Hershel to use, but ya weren't eatin'- were barely drinkin' or conscious. We didn't have a way to set up an IV for ya either so we just had to wait... and hope."

Amity was the one squeezing his hand then, the action nearly as gentle as his had been due to how weak she felt.

"Can I have a drink now?" She asked him, voice raspy. "I feel like I swallowed a desert." She explained but didn't need to as Daryl was already reaching to grab a water bottle, handing it to her before helping her to sit upright, nearly completely supporting her as she did so.

The door to the unit opened and Amity looked to see Maggie enter, stopping to look at the pair with wide eyes as she was surprised to see Amity's eyes open, let alone her sitting up and drinking something nearly on her own.

"Get yer dad." Daryl told her and the woman nodded, basically sprinting back out the door.

"I'm alright now, Dixon." Amity spoke up, catching the man's attention and holding his gaze until he nodded, a small smile on his lips.

"Ya better be."

* * *

Spring had settled in and Amity had never been so happy for the chance to wear a tank top in her life.

Shedding her layers of clothing had felt like a religious experience and as the weather warmed up, so did the redhead's attitude which was a bit of a relief for the rest of the group that didn't know what to do with her perpetual stony silence after she had recovered from her illness.

Even when the days had started getting warmer, Daryl and Michael had fought with her about wanting to wear shorter sleeves or a lighter jacket- both men were apparently terrified that the sickness was just playing hide-and-seek or something, no matter how much both Amity and Hershel told them otherwise.

Now, Amity stood waiting on the front porch of a large house that Rick, Carl, T-Dog and Daryl were clearing. They had hopes of scavenging a bit of food and taking a short break for the day.

The group was still struggling to find enough food for them all, and with Lori as pregnant as she was, rations were divided in a way that no one argued with, but was definitely leaving most of them just short of starving.

Amity stood tense as she carefully listened to both inside and outside of the house, her blue eyes scanning the overgrown yard as she made sure no walkers were going to get the jump on the small group huddled next to the cars with Michael and Glenn on their edges as guards of a sort.

A tap on her shoulder had the woman jumping, not hearing anyone come up behind her so as she settled down, she knew who it was before she even turned around.

"It's clear." Daryl told her and she reached out to carefully touch his cheek, not wanting to catch him off guard as he so loved doing to her, and ran her thumb lightly over his cheekbone before spotting the feathered creature in his hand.

"Daryl-" She scolded but he just raised a brow at her.

"Ya wanna eat?" He asked as Rick hustled the rest of the group in through the back door.

"Did I ever tell you that I once worked at a sanctuary for birds of prey?" She wondered and the man shook his head.

"Everything gets eaten, girl." He reasoned, reaching out a hand to gently press on her lower back so she would move inside before he pulled the large double doors closed behind her.

They moved to join the rest of the group in the living room, Daryl taking a seat and Amity sitting on the floor just in front of him so that she could lean against his legs while he plucked the owl.

Every once in a while a feather would flutter down in front of her face and she would shake her head in response.

After a moment she let her eyes fall closed, the silence of everyone dealing with their own aches and sorrows from being constantly on the move giving her a moment of peace though she swore she could still hear the echo of a motorcycle engine in her head. As if listening to the noise for hours on end made it a permanent fixture.

She opened her eyes at the sound of a can opener, locating the source and watching as Carl opened a can of something. Her blue eyes scanned the label, noticing the dog drawing on the side and her chest clenched at the sight.

He was starving, they all were, and it tore her apart that the kid she had came to care for was resorting to food made for animals.

Rick crossed the room suddenly, taking the can out of his son's hands and looking it over before chucking it into the empty fireplace. She felt Daryl jump from behind her and reached a hand back to lay lightly against his knee, wanting to soothe him a bit.

After a heavy moment of silence, the group divvied up a jar of peanut butter, Daryl's owl, and some mustard packets. They had found that mustard seemed to always be the thing left behind in stores that had been all but picked clean.

It was a quick and unsatisfying lunch, but it was something.

"Psst." T-Dog whispered from his place by the window and the group rose as one, knowing it was time to go.

Amity jogged out just behind Lori with Michael at her side, the large man having become both Lori and Carol's almost constant guard since Amity really _could_ handle herself for the most part and she nearly always had Daryl at her side.

The man's protective streak had simply widened its borders.

Michael quickly ruffled Amity's hair as she passed him, the man climbing into the back seat of the Hyundai as the redhead continued on to hop on the back of Daryl's bike.

They were on the move again.

* * *

"We got no place left to go." T-Dog said as they all gathered around the front of the Hyundai, Maggie spreading the map they were using to track walker herds across the hood of it. They had only driven for an hour or so since leaving the house where Daryl shot the owl before they had to stop and regroup.

Amity agreed with her friend and leaned heavily against him then, feeling like they were running out of room in the world when they honestly had all of North America that they could take on.

T-Dog looked down at her, giving the redhead a small tired smile which she returned with the brightest one she could muster. That was who she tried to be for everyone once the weather had began to warm and they were still living the nomad life- the bit of lightheartedness in the middle of all the heavy shit.

She owed them at least that after they had helped her while she was sick, waiting for her to recover and doing everything they could to speed the process along.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off." Maggie told them, gesturing over the map. "We'll never make it south."

"What would you say? That was about 150 head?" Daryl asked them, coming up on the other side of Amity, eyeing her leaning on T-Dog with a blank look that had the other man shifting and Amity standing up straight when he all but shrugged her off. She was both annoyed and amused by how easily Daryl could make anyone uncomfortable. Annoyed because there was no reason to do so and amused because, again, it was so easy for him.

"That was last week." Glenn answered the hunter. "It could be twice that by now."

"This river could have delayed them." Hershel pointed out. "If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there."

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." Amity countered, shaking her head a bit as she pointed at the map.

"So we're blocked." Maggie said simply.

"Only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing towards Greenville." Rick told them.

"Yeah, we picked through that already." T-Dog told him."It's like we spent the winter going in circles."

"Yeah, I know. I know." Rick agreed, nodding. "At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house. Need to find some place to hole up for a few weeks." He said, glancing to Lori who was sitting in the red Suburban. Michael rested against the hood of it with a baseball bat held loosely in his hands, his eyes scanning the forest around them for anything that could hurt the pregnant woman.

"Alright." T-Dog agreed. "Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? Won't take long. We got to fill up on water, we can boil it later."

"Knock yourself out." Rick told him and Amity moved over to where Daryl was gathering up his crossbow.

"Hey-" Daryl began, looking at her before turning his gaze just past her shoulder to where Rick was walking up to them. "While the others wash their panties, let's go hunt." He suggested. "That owl didn't exactly hit the spot."

Amity couldn't help but let out a soft snort at his words, shaking her head as he looked over at her.

"Eloquent." She said in explaination, making him toss the rag he kept in his pocket at her.

"Fuck off, Walker." He said, almost sounding amused.

"Make me, Dixon." Amity chirped as she nocked an arrow in place and started moving towards the woods.

"You boys comin'?" She asked over her shoulder.

Only a few moments later, Daryl and Rick were walking next to her.

They spent a while scanning the trees, Amity taking out one large dove that nearly had her peeing herself when it burst from a bush just ahead of them. Unfortunately for it, her reaction time had just gotten better when she was startled.

Call it self-preservation.

They came across a set of railroad tracks soon after and began to follow them for a bit, keeping an eye out for more prey until the moaning of walkers reached their ears.

They kept moving forward until the woods opened up a bit and they caught sight of a somewhat familiar large concrete building surrounded by high chainlink fences, walkers milling about in the yard.

It was a prison- more specifically, the West Georgia Correctional Facility.

It was a building that Amity had frequented many times during her years as a graduate student and a few times for clients when she had her own clinic.

"That's a shame." Daryl said, looking over the yard and pulling Amity out of her memories.

Rick didn't reply as he stared at the building, a look on his face that had Amity realizing what he was thinking before he spoke.

"It's perfect." He told the two next to him.

"It's drownin' in geeks." Daryl countered but Rick just shook his head.

"We can take care of that easy. We need to get back, get the others and find a way here." Rick told them.

"I know the way, Daryl and I will take lead and y'all can just follow us back." Amity said and both men looked at her with confusion.

"Oh- I, uh, I know this place." She revealed and their looks just deepened. "No! Not like that- I cried when I got a speeding ticket for fuck's sake." She clarified quickly. "I've just worked here a lot as a graduate student and I had a few clients that were kept here." She explained.

"You know the layout then?" Rick asked and she shrugged.

"To a point. I wasn't exactly allowed to wander the place, you know? The guards were hard-pressed to leave me alone in a room with my client handcuffed to the table, let alone let me walk the cellblocks." She said and Rick nodded.

"It's better than nothing." He reasoned. "Let's get back."

* * *

It wasn't long before they were pulling up into the field just outside of the prison gates.

Amity hopped off the bike, glad that her memory of the way in hadn't failed her as the group started for the fence with most of their weapons and a small stash of supplies carried between them.

Rick made quick work of cutting through the fence with bolt cutters while Glenn pressed a walker that had gotten too close against the fence, Maggie smashing its skull in to silence it.

"Watch the backside." Rick warned and Amity moved to do so, tensed to let an arrow fly if need be.

"Got it." Lori said for her, ushering everyone through the hole in the fence before Michael motioned for both Lori and Amity to precede him in. Rick and T-Dog followed shortly after and Glenn began to weave a wire through the hole to seal it back as Daryl covered him.

Once they were all in between the two large fences that made up the perimeter the walkers on the inside swarmed towards them, pressing against the fences as they got a glimpse of what was probably the first bit of food to wander near in months- if not since the whole thing began.

They jogged down the gravel, heading for the main gate and slowed as they approached it, taking in the place.

It was strange how it looked nearly exactly the same as it had when it was functioning, a lot less prison guards to make a pass at her though.

"It's perfect." Rick said, sounding relieved. "If we can shut that gate and prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight."

"So how do we shut the gate?"

"I'll do it." Glenn and Amity said at the same time, looking at one another with surprise.

"You guys cover me." Glenn said slowly.

"Us." Amity amended and Glenn gave her the smallest of smiles.

"No." Maggie argued, shaking her head. "It's a suicide run."

"Sorry, Bug. It's a bad plan. Try again." Michael piped up from where he stood off to the side of the group.

"We're the fastest." Glenn insisted.

"No- you, Maggie, Michael, and Beth draw as many as you can over there." Rick directed, pointing down the fence line a ways. "Pop 'em through the fence."

"Daryl, go back to the other tower. Take Amity with you. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot. Take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste. Join 'em." Rick told the trio before turning to the remaining two without tasks. "Hershel, you and Carl take this tower."

"I'll run for the gate." He said finally, not sounding the least bit excited. Amity exchanged a look with him as she passed before picking up the pace to run alongside Carol and Daryl.

The trio made it to the guard tower quickly, climbing up the stairs as fast as they could just in time to see Rick leaving the gate as Lori pulled it open.

Amity's eyes followed the man and she heard nothing but gunshots and the yelling of the group behind the fence before she blocked it out and focused- skewering a walker that had stumbled a little too close to their friend and leader for her liking.

Daryl and Carol were making quick work of many walkers in the yard as well, though a stray bullet from Carol had Rick leaping back, a bullet hole left in the ground just in front of his feet.

"Sorry!" Carol called out and Amity couldn't help but laugh as she let loose another arrow to take out a walker wandering towards Rick.

She watched as the man got the hooks and chain onto the fence to keep it shut and followed his path until he was safely in one of the guard towers.

"He's out of the hot seat." Amity said.

"He did it." Carol added happily, looking back at Daryl.

The man nodded before looking to the tower where Hershel and Carl stood.

"Light it up!" He yelled out and nothing but the twang of their bowstrings and the sound of gunshots filled the area until the last walker in the yard had dropped.

"Fantastic!" Carol said excitedly as they left the tower, her arms wrapping around Amity's shoulders as they walked and the woman couldn't help but let out a happy laugh at her joy.

"Nice shootin'." Daryl complimented her, a small smile even in place on his lips then.

"Yeah?" She replied, looking pleased with herself.

"You okay?" Amity asked Lori as they went out through the fence Rick had ran through.

"I haven't felt this good in weeks." Lori replied with a smile.

"Good." Carol said before she let go of Amity and ran out further into the yard. "Oh! Oh! We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!" She declared and Amity looked over to find her brother watching the woman with a small smile on his lips, fondness clear in his expression.

She couldn't resist digging an elbow into his ribs, laughing when he looked at her with confusion until she wiggled her brows and the man shoved her away, making her stumble a bit as she laughed even harder.

Glenn made quick work of stabbing a walker through the head that tried to get up and after it was done, T-Dog let out a pleased laugh, yelling his exhilaration into the sky as Amity smiled back at him over her shoulder.

Night fell rather quickly after the group moved the vehicles inside the gates and brought the rest of their supplies in.

They sat around the fire, aside from Daryl who had taken watch up on an overturned bus by the gate and Rick who continuously roved the perimeter, and shared the dove Amity had killed earlier along with a few stray squirrels that Daryl had scavenged up.

"Mmm." Glenn said sarcastically, though his tone held no bite. "Just like mom used to make."

"Your momma didn't make dove for you?" Amity asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"That was our dad's specialty." Michael added with a small laugh from next to her.

"There was nothing in this world like his stuffed dove. I'd kill for the things to make it." Amity said with a regretful shake of her head.

"Tomorrow we'll put all the bodies together." T-Dog spoke up. "Want to keep them away from that water. Now, if we can dig a canal under the fence, we'll have plenty of fresh water."

"The soil is good. We could plant some seed. Grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, soybeans." Hershel said, passing a handful of dirt back and forth in his hands. "That's his third time around." The older man added, nodding towards Rick. "If there was any part of it compromised, he'd have found it by now."

"I'm going to go take Daryl a plate." Amity said suddenly, moving to stand and brushing off her jeans. She took the plate that Carol quickly fixed up with a grateful smile before making her way through the dark and out to the bus.

She rounded the side of it, ending up along the underside of the thing and stretched up to place the plate on the top edge where Daryl resided before trying to figure out how she would get up there with him.

She braced a foot against the tire, hauling herself up until a dirty hand appeared in front of her and she took it, allowing Daryl to basically deadlift her the rest of the way.

Once standing beside him, Amity offered the man a smile before picking up the plate and handing it over.

"It's not much, but if I don't bring you something, you won't eat at all." She reasoned, knowing it to be true.

"I guess Little Shane over there has got quite the appetite." Daryl quipped and Amity shoved him lightly.

"Don't be mean." She scolded half-heartedly. "Rick's done right by me."

"Mm-hmm." He hummed noncommittally as he dropped a piece of meat into his mouth, eating like a caveman as usual.

"Shane could never have done that." She insisted, taking a seat on the edge of the bus, her legs dangling off the side facing the group and Daryl hesitated for a moment before joining her.

"I think my brother has eyes for Carol." Amity told her companion with a wolfish grin.

"What makes ya think that?" Daryl wondered, shaking his head at Amity's obvious amusement.

"Look." She told him, gesturing towards the campsite where the figures of Michael and Carol could be seen against the fire, the man sat just a bit behind the woman, his hands on her shoulder as he seemed to massage it.

"He could just be bein' nice." Daryl reasoned and Amity shook her head.

"Mikey is a nice guy, but I know him. He's _nice_ to Lori, with Carol it's something else."

"Ya shrink everyone's head like that all the time?" Daryl wondered and Amity turned her eyes back to him.

"I don't mean to." She said, basically confirming his question. "If it's any consolation, you're nearly impossible to read."

"That so?" Daryl said after a moment's hesitation.

"Mhm, you give me a run for my money, Dixon." She informed him and could have swore she saw a smile flit across his lips before he stood, holding out a hand to help her to her feet as well.

"Better get back." He told her and Amity looked up at the star filled sky above them.

"It's pretty romantic." She said slyly, looking at him with a playful smirk. "Wanna to fool around?" She asked.

She watched as the man seemed stunned for a moment before letting out a dismissive noise and moving to the side of the bus that she had climbed up on.

"I'll go down first." He said, crouching to hop off the bus.

"Even better." Amity teased and he looked back at her with an unamused look.

"Stop." He told her flatly then hopped off the bus.

Amity wandered over to the edge, looking down at him before sitting on the side and hesitating.

"I won't let ya fall on yer ass, Cherry." Daryl called up to her and the woman gave him a conflicted look before moving to slide off the edge, her eyes closing as she fell through the air for a split second, but rough hands settled on her hips and slowed her fall.

"Thanks." Amity said once her feet were firmly on the ground, looking up at him since they were so close.

"Told ya I wouldn't." He replied with a shrug, one of his hands coming up to rest his palm against her scarred cheek, looking a bit nervous about the action until the woman leaned into his touch, turning her head slightly to press a kiss to his palm.

"We really should head back. I know they saw us get down and I'd hate for Michael to try to gut you already." Amity said with a chuckle. "I've started to enjoy your presence, Dixon."

"Well I'm a damn joy to be 'round." He responded and Amity turned on him as they rounded the front of the bus, eyes dramatically wide as she looked at him.

"Daryl Dixon, did you just make a _joke_?" She asked with faux shock in her voice.

"Shuddup." The man responded, brushing past her as she laughed.

As they approached the campsite, the sound of singing reached them and once they got closer Amity realized that it was Beth who was doing so.

The pair settled just outside of the group as they listened to the song, waiting for her to finish so they wouldn't interrupt. As they stood, Amity leaned a bit against Daryl's arm like she had done to T-Dog earlier that day and for once, Daryl didn't tense up. Instead his other hand rose to gently brush his fingertips over her arm, the touch leaving goosebumps in its wake.

Rick came over to the group as well, settling down between his son and wife as Maggie joined in with Beth, the sisters carrying out a pleasant harmony for a while until the song concluded and Hershel spoke.

"Beautiful." He told his daughters.

Amity left Daryl's side and walked over to the nearest of the Greene girls- Maggie.

"That was great." She told them, Maggie resting her hand on Amity's briefly as the women exchanged a small smile.

"Better all turn in." Rick said after silence had fallen. "I'll take watch over there. Got a big day tomorrow."

"What do you mean?" Glenn asked him.

"Look, I know we're all exhausted." Rick began. "This was a great win, but we've got to push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards and prisoners. Looks like this place fell pretty early. It could mean the supplies may be intact." He explained.

"They have an infirmary, a commissary, a cafeteria." Amity added and Rick nodded, the rest of the group looking at her with confusion.

"I've been around this place for work more than a few times." She explained and got various nods of understanding from the group.

"An armory?" Daryl asked her, but Rick answered.

"That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away." The man said. "Warden's offices would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine. This place could be a gold mine."

"We're dangerously low on ammo." Hershel interjected. "We'd run out before we make a dent."

"That's why we have to go in there. Hand to hand." Rick said and Amity could read the hesitation on the group's face as she rose to wander to her brother's side, Daryl following after her and taking a seat next to her once she plopped down on the ground.

"After all we've been through we can handle it. I know it." Rick encouraged them.

"These assholes don't stand a chance." He told his son, receiving a small smile and nod in response before he stood and wandered off to take watch.

Amity let out a small sigh, looking at the hunter at her side who raised a brow at her in question.

"Gonna be a day and a half tomorrow." She said and he nodded slowly in response.

"Get some sleep, girl." Daryl told her, rising to his feet and Amity turned back to the fire just as warm cloth settled down around her shoulders and she noticed it was Daryl's tribal patterned poncho.

She turned around to look at the hunter with confusion but he just smirked lightly before beginning to walk away to check the perimeter himself before settling in for the night.

"I'll be back for that." He told her as he walked away and the redhead smiled to herself before wrapping the poncho more securely around her shoulders, reveling in its warmth and comforting scent.

* * *

Amity stood at Maggie's side, between her and Daryl as they waited for the gate to be opened.

They had a small group going in to clear the rest of the area and hopefully push their way inside.

Amity had her bow over her shoulder, ready to be used but she went in with her machete in her hand for closer combat.

"Ready?" Hershel asked and they all nodded before the gate was pulled open, T-Dog, Michael, and Rick lunging forward to clear them a way inside.

The gate closed just behind Amity as the woman buried her machete in a walker's skull, holding tightly to the weapon as she kicked the corpse away and pulled it free.

"Daryl!" Rick called out, gesturing to one walker coming on the hunter's side and the man made quick work of taking it down.

When Amity wasn't burying her machete into the skull of a walker, she was eyeing another one coming her way before lunging and taking it out as they moved. She tried to keep an eye on the two people on either side of her- for one, to make sure they didn't need her help, and secondly, to make sure that she wasn't being left behind.

"Don't break rank!" Rick yelled out and Amity turned to see T-Dog darting to the side, going for what looked to be a riot shield.

"We may need that!" T-Dog insisted.

"Hey!" Rick yelled out to warn him as a walker went for the man who turned and slammed the shield in to the front of it, dropping it as Amity darted forward to end its movement.

"Amity!" Daryl called after her, not pleased that she moved from the group even if it was to help T-Dog. As she took a step back towards the group, she felt a hand on her arm to yank her close faster and saw that it was Maggie.

"I got your back." The younger woman said and Amity nodded at her, moving back carefully as the group moved forward, both her and Maggie guarding their asses.

"I've got yours." Amity told her in return and Maggie smiled at her.

"Almost there!" Rick announced to them, peering into a side room before creeping around the corner.

He suddenly jumped back and slammed himself against the wall, everyone following suit except for Daryl and Amity who both drew their bows out in front of them.

A pair of walkers fully decked out in riot gear stumbled around the corner, spotting them with a growl.

Daryl let an arrow fly but it couldn't pierce the visor so Amity didn't bother to do the same.

The redhead moved forward as a walker with a gas mask stumbled out of the door in front of Maggie, the brunette kicking it away. Amity moved on top of it as it fell, using the toe of her boot to push the mask up and off its face, taking the rotten skin that covered its skull off as well.

Amity made a noise of disgust but quickly shot an arrow into its brain.

"Daryl!" Rick yelled, making Amity's heart drop to her feet before she spotted the hunter running to help Rick close the gate.

She forced herself to calm down, turning just in time to see Maggie get the upper hand on one of the walkers in riot gear, shoving back its head so that she could shove her knife up under the visor and into its head.

"You see that?" She asked them, looking a mixture of shocked and pleased.

Glenn and T-Dog made quick work of the other walker decked out like that one had been and Daryl leapt on another, shoving his knife in through the base of its skull while Amity spotted one downed near the fence but still moving.

"I got it!" Michael told them, running over and yanking the visor back so he could shove the sharpened pipe he had temporarily traded his bat for through its brain.

When no more walkers approached them, they began to head back to the rest of the group, Glenn jogging ahead until Rick called out to him.

"Stop." The man commanded and Glenn paused, wandering back with a confused look.

"Well, it looks secure." The Korean man reasoned.

"Not from the look of that courtyard over there." Daryl told him, pointing to a nearby area. "And that's a civilian." He added, gesturing to a downed walker woman who was wearing civilian clothing instead of the guard or prisoner uniforms.

"So the interior could be over run by walkers from outside the prison." Michael stated, shaking his head a bit as he pulled off his hat to push a hand through his hair.

"Well, if there's walls down, then what are we gonna do?" Glenn asked. "We can't rebuild this whole place."

"We can't risk a blind spot." Rick told them. "We have to push in."

The leader moved off towards one side, leaving the rest of them to follow. Amity did so with a small sigh leaving her lips.

"Buck up, Bug. It's walker killin' time!" Michael said as he jogged past her, easily pulling a smile from his sister.

"You're too into this, you know?" She called after him. "We need to have a talk about your tendencies after this, Michael Boone!"

They opened up the stairwell, cautiously climbing it before pausing as Daryl and Rick gathered around the door. Daryl pulled it open and Rick lunged forward just to be met with another gate.

They all moved inside, Rick carefully pushing the gate open as Glenn slid the door shut behind them.

They descended into the large room that was familiar to Amity. It was the common area that was used for visiting hours, as well as an area for the prisoners to socialize when allowed.

She had spent time with her clients before during their visiting hours when they had no family to visit them, making the best use of their time that she could.

She followed Rick up the stairs that led to the guard's perch that looked down over the area, pausing at the door when he held a hand out her way before dropping it suddenly. As she stepped in the room, she realized why he had stopped her at the sight of a familiar figure sitting dead in a chair.

"Oh, Turner." She said quietly, her hand reaching out to gently touch the corpse's arm.

"You knew him?" Rick asked and she nodded.

"He was a guard here, only a little older than Glenn." She said, voice quiet. There was a moment of silence between them before Rick spotted keys on the corpse's belt and quickly took them, ushering Amity out of the room and back down the stairs- both of them saying nothing about her recognizing one of the dead.

They used the keys that Rick had found to open the gate that would let them into the cell block just next door. They cautiously made their entrance, finding the place empty and silent. Amity wandered down the row of cells, looking in to see the dead prisoners on the ground with bullet holes in their foreheads.

They hadn't had a chance.

She heard walkers snarling from upstairs and quickly raised her bow in the direction they were coming from, but she spotted Daryl and Rick looking at the struggling undead contained by their cells and lowered it once more.

With the cell block cleared, they began to drag the bodies of the prisoners out to be burnt.

Amity helped, dragging one along with Maggie as Glenn and Michael went to fetch the rest of their group. The redhead was pointedly avoiding looking at the bodies' faces, not wanting to recognize anyone else.

"What do you think?" Rick asked as the rest of the group entered and he descended the stairs.

"Home, sweet, home." Glenn replied, not sounding excited.

"For the time being." Rick agreed.

"It's secure?" Lori asked.

"This cell block is." Rick confirmed.

"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel wondered.

"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria and infirmary." Rick informed them.

"We'll sleep in the cells?" Beth asked.

"I found keys on some guards." Rick replied. "Daryl has a set too."

"I ain't sleeping in no cage." Daryl spat, looking at the cells around them with distaste. "I'll take the perch.

Amity rolled her eyes at his dramatics, but she understood where he was coming from. It was a discomforting feeling being so closed in.

The redhead climbed the stairs with her things in her hands, choosing the cell directly at the top of the stairs. She knew that hearing the traffic of everyone moving might get old fast, but she felt weird sleeping separate from the others as is- so she at least wanted to be nearish to her usual sleeping companion who was currently dropping his things on the area he had claimed.

She stopped at the door of her cell, looking in at the blood splatter on the wall and the dusty mattress on top of the rusted metal frame.

It wasn't much, it wasn't pleasant, but it was the best thing they had since the farm.

"I'm bunkin' with you, Bug." A deep voice announced from behind her, brushing past her as Michael went to enter her cell as well.

"Oh hell no." Amity said, reaching out to grab his arm in an attempt to tug him out of the space but he could obviously win that tug of war battle.

"What? You don't want to share with your favorite brother?" Michael asked sounding offended.

"No." Amity said flatly, tugging on him harder then. "And you can't claim the title of being my favorite brother when you're my _only_ brother." She added.

"I'm hurt and offended." Michael said, the grown man all but pouting at her.

"Get out of my room." She told him, repeating the phrase she so commonly yelled at him in their teen years, watching as he slunk out of the cell like a kicked puppy.

"You could ask Carol if she wanted to bunk with you, you know?" Amity sing-songed behind him, having to duck to dodge the shirt he yanked out of his bag to throw at her.

As Michael continued on his way to find his own cell, Amity looked to see Daryl watching her with a bit of amusement on his face.

"What?" Amity asked him, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Nothin', girl." He replied, chuckling to himself as she turned to walk back into her cell, flopping down on the bottom bunk and looking up through the frame that was left bare due to Daryl taking the mattress out.

She sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

They had somewhere to stay, and not just for the night.

They had what was the start of something- maybe a home, maybe just a base of operations- but it was something _more_.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey, all!**

 **I wanted to chat quickly before getting into this chapter to let you all know that I really love seeing how many people are reading and keeping up with this story!**

 **I love watching the favorites and follows go up- it really reaffirms that people are reading and actually liking this story!**

 **I really appreciate any and all [ constructive ] feedback so don't forget that reviews are a thing you can definitely leave me! ;)**

 **Again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **xx**

* * *

Amity watched as Michael and T-Dog put down the small haul they had collected off of the bodies of the dead guards onto one of the tables the rest of them had gathered around in the common area.

"Not bad." Daryl said, picking up a device that was unfamiliar to the woman.

"Flashbangs, CS Triple-Chasers." Rick listed off, speaking a whole different language to the redhead's ears. "Not sure how they'd work on walkers, but we'll take it."

Daryl moved from beside her, picking up one of the riot helmets and dumping out some disgusting smelling goo from it as he did so.

"I ain't wearing this shit." He declared simply.

"You couldn't pay me." Amity agreed, scrunching her nose up at the sight.

"We could boil 'em." T-Dog suggested, holding up a glove and watching the gunk drip slowly from it.

"Ain't enough firewood in the whole forest. No." Daryl said flatly.

"Besides, we made it this far without them, right?" Amity added with a small smile at the men until Daryl picked up one of the riot vests and held it out towards her.

"I'm sorry, was I hallucinating? Because I could have swore I just heard you say that there wasn't enough wood in the forest to make these clean enough for you to wear."

"I ain't the one wearin' 'em." Daryl responded with a shrug.

"But I am?" Amity countered and he just looked at her.

"Nope, sorry. Not happening, Slick."

"It'd offer some peace of mind, Bug." Michael interjected from beside of her and she turned to glare at the older man.

She hated when the pair ganged up on her. She was missing the days when Michael did nothing more than glare at Daryl when the man so much as glanced her way.

"I hate you both." She snapped, snatching the vest from Daryl nonetheless and sliding it on over her tank top, letting her brother fasten her in to it.

Michael was staying behind in the cell block that day at Rick's request. He wanted someone capable and level-headed around in case something went south and they had to either hole up or head out of the prison.

"Hershel." Carol called out as she approached the group, everyone turning to look at her as she gestured for the older man to follow her.

"Everything alright?" Rick asked in a way that made Amity frown.

It was obvious to everyone that the married couple in their group had been distant, something that wasn't making Lori's pregnancy any easier. She understood why they would be at odds after everything that happened with Shane, but in this world there was never a guarantee for the next day, or even the next second, so she would have thought they would just try to move past it by that point.

"Yeah." Carol assured him, barely looking his way. "Nothing to worry about."

The pair disappeared into a cell and Amity looked over to see Daryl shaking something that looked suspiciously grenade shaped.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you shouldn't be doing that." Amity told the hunter, reaching out to still his hand while he just grinned playfully at her, making her breath hitch in her throat at the sight.

"If you blow us up, man. I'll haunt your hick ass." T-Dog declared from next to them, causing Daryl to simply toss the thing in his hands the man's way. T-Dog fumbled with it for a second before closing his hands around it and half-heartedly glaring at Daryl while Amity laughed.

* * *

"Let's go." Rick called out as the group heading further into the prison strapped themselves up in their newfound gear.

Amity was twisting in place, trying to make sure that the vest wouldn't restrict her movement if she needed to trade her bow for her machete in a split second.

At their leader's insistence she followed along with the group, walking side-by-side with Maggie as they slowly made their way forward. She tried to focus on the task at hand and not at the creepiness of the darkness pressing in on them or the corpses that laid about on the floor.

The shaking of a spray can let her know that Glenn was marking their path to prevent them from getting lost in what felt like the Paris catacombs in that moment.

The redhead was peering into a nearby cell when a shriek sounded from beside her, making her jump and spin around, her bow already drawn back.

"Sorry." Maggie said quietly, apparently having ran into Glenn and startled herself. Amity looked further up the corridor to see Daryl looking back at her. The man nodded at her once, soothing most of her fears with just that simple action.

As they continued moving, Amity was grateful for the flashlight Daryl had attached to her bow for her, even if it did throw off the balance of the weapon, making her have to consider her shot a second longer before taking it. It kept the darkness from choking her, her old world fear threatening to overwhelm her a bit, and that was definitely worth it.

It wasn't that she feared the dark itself, she just feared what laid within it and that fear was even more appropriate now that the dead were walking.

"Go back." Rick hissed suddenly and Glenn stumbled backwards into her and Maggie.

"Go back! Move!" Rick half-yelled at them and Glenn pushed both women ahead of him, jogging through the darkened corridors and stumbling over corpses like the rest of the group.

The trio got a half a step behind everyone else somehow and upon taking a wrong turn, they found themselves face-to-face with a horde of walkers.

"In here!" Glenn yelled, pulling open a nearby door and shoving Maggie and Amity through before closing it behind himself.

They all piled against the door, helping the lock to hold it in place until finally, after a few long moments, the walkers seemed to be distracted by another horde moving past, leaving to join them.

The trio looked at one another, waiting another few minutes to ensure their safety before pulling the door open and creeping into the hallway.

"Dad?" Maggie called out softly.

"Daryl?" Amity said as well, moving forward with the couple until a pained wail pierced the air.

"Daddy!" Maggie yelled out, recognizing the voice and darting forward with Glenn and Amity hot on her tail.

They rounded the corner while Glenn tried to convince the woman to slow down before spotting the injured man on the ground a second after Rick shot the walker that had tore into his leg.

"No!" Maggie wailed, her hands jumping to her mouth.

"Daryl!" Rick yelled out and the man moved to Amity's side, shooting an arrow into the skull of a walker that was leading a horde towards them.

"Oh, God." Amity breathed as she let an arrow fly as well, dropping another but it was no use. They had to move.

"We're blocked!" Daryl told their leader, dragging Amity back a few steps as she released another arrow into a walker's head.

"We have to go back!" Rick yelled and the group set off down the hallway, Glenn and Rick carrying Hershel along as Amity and Daryl brought up the rear of the group, keeping their lights on the horde that was tailing them.

"Go! Go!" Amity shouted, trying to get the group to move faster once they had come to a stop.

"Get in!" She heard from behind her. "Break it and open the door!""

A loud bang sounded and then they were moving again. Amity rushed forward as T-Dog and Daryl braced themselves against the door they had ran through, dropping to the ground at the older man's side as Daryl shove a metal rod through the handles and joined her.

"Hold him down." Rick told them and Daryl and Glenn both did so, Maggie resting her father's head in her lap.

"Rick, there's only one way to save him!" Amity told their leader who nodded, quickly pulling his belt off and handing it to her so that she could loop it around his leg, yanking it tight as a tourniquet so Rick could do the terrible dead.

"We have a sharper machete?" Amity asked the group but Rick shook his head, grabbing a hatchet instead. The woman wished for something sharper, the less damage done to the blood vessels left more room for them to constrict on their own and reduce blood loss. Her little bit of biology knowledge outside of the brain coming to the forefront of her mind in the high stress moment.

She watched Rick rear back and wanted to tell him to make the cut just below the knee cap like Hershel was going to do with Randall but the man already brought the hatchet down on his upper shin, sending blood splattering across the redhead's face and chest. She was grateful for the moment that Hershel passed out from the pain, wanting him to experience as little of the horror that was happening as possible.

Finally, Rick severed the leg completely with one last swing and Amity rushed to yank the rag tucked in her belt out to wrap around the stump.

"He's bleeding out." Rick told them all, breathing heavily.

"Duck." Daryl whispered, completely throwing Amity off until Rick put a hand on her head and forced her down with him, Daryl's crossbow coming up to point over their heads.

Amity turned slowly, spotting five men standing behind the grate in the kitchen.

"Holy shit." One of them muttered but Amity didn't bother to pay them any more mind as she worked on helping Hershel.

"Come around here." She told Maggie, the woman doing as she said almost immediately.

"Put pressure on the knee." She told her. "Hard! Push, push." She insisted, trying the rag tightly over the bleeding stump to stem the blood flow as much as she could.

"Why don't ya come on out of there?" Daryl's voice directed from nearby. "Slow and steady."

"What happened to him?" One of the men asked.

"He got bit." Daryl replied simply and then the sound of a gun cocking reached Amity's ears.

She briefly glanced over to see T-Dog with his gun raised towards the men, another gun in one of the prisoner's hands.

"Bit?" The man asked

"Whoa, whoa, whoa- ain't nobody need to get hurt." Daryl said, trying to soothe the obviously startled men.

"I need you to hold this." Amity directed Maggie.

"Okay." The woman agreed, her voice shaking.

"As hard as you can." The redhead insisted and the younger woman nodded, doing as she asked.

"You have medical supplies?" Glenn asked as he crossed the room towards them, pushing past them to the kitchen.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" One of them asked him but he paid them no mind.

"Who the hell are you people, anyway?" The man with the gun asked as walkers slammed harder against the doors, catching Amity's attention.

"Don't look like no rescue team." Another, one with a mustache, said.

"If a rescue team is what you're waiting for- _don't_." Rick told them harshly, lifting Hershel until he was sitting upright and exchanging a look with Amity.

"Come on, we gotta go!" The leader told everyone. "Now! Come on!"

"I need a hand here." Amity said loudly, struggling to lift Hershel's lower half until Glenn was next to her, lending his strength to lift the older man onto the cart he had found.

"Holy Jesus!" One of the prisoners cursed.

"T, the door." Rick commanded, the other man running to do as he requested.

"Are you crazy? Don't open that!" One of the prisoners yelled.

"We got this." Rick told them as T-Dog moved back, the pipe that was holding the door in place now in his hand.

Amity drew her bow, more focused on making sure another one of them wouldn't get bit now that Hershel was on a cart and about to be mobile.

She waited for T-Dog to open the door and shot an arrow through one of the two walkers that stumbled in, T-Dog taking out the other that was covered in riot gear.

"Daryl." She called out as she moved to the door, stopping just outside of it to see the man was still pointing his crossbow at the prisoners.

"Daryl! Let's go." She insisted and finally the man was moving towards her.

They stumbled quickly through the darkened passageways, Daryl taking the lead as Amity covered their asses.

"Come on, let's go." Daryl urged them on.

"He's losing too much blood." Maggie told the group as they pushed through the doors leading to the common area.

"Open the door!" Rick yelled ahead at the rest of the group in the cellblock. "It's Hershel! Carl! Come on."

"Go, go, go, go, go." The man yelled once they cleared the door and Amity stopped as Carol joined the group. Over their time on the road Hershel had taken the woman on as a bit of an apprentice so Amity knew she couldn't do more to help than she had at that point.

She stopped just short of the cell block, looking over her shoulder to see that Daryl was standing a few paces back from the door leading to the rest of the prison from the common area and refusing to move.

He kept his bow raised towards the space and Amity moved to join him, her bow raising as well as she tried to understand what he was doing.

"Get in the cellblock, Cherry." He hissed at her, but the redhead ignored him as footsteps approached.

Slowly, the prisoners began to trickle in towards the corner of the living area.

"That's far enough." Daryl told them, his aim never wavering and neither did Amity's.

"Cell block C." The apparent leader, a Hispanic man with longish hair, said. "Cell four- that's mine, _gringo_. Let me in."

"Today's yer lucky days, fellas." Daryl said with no lack of heat in his tone. "Ya've been pardoned by the State of Georgia. You're free to go."

"Doctor W?" One of the men asked, sounding shocked and Amity tore her eyes from the man with the gun to see one of her previous clients was a part of the group.

Of course he was, what were the odds?

"Ezekiel, I can't say that I'm not surprised to see you here." Amity told the man, offering him a small smile despite the fact her bow was still trained on his companion and now Daryl's was trained directly at him.

"Alive anyways." She added on as an afterthought, making the prisoners shift uncomfortably.

"It's Big Tiny, doc." The man insisted.

"I am not calling you or anyone else _Big Tiny_." Amity replied, making a face at that.

"Who are you?" The leader asked, looking between her and his fellow inmate. "Man, how do you know a doctor?"

"Psychologist." Amity cut in as a bit of explaination and the men fell silent for a moment.

She watched as the leader looked her over, eyes only hesitating briefly on the scar marring her cheek.

" _Ese_ , if I would have known these were the kinds of doctors everyone was seeing then I would have pleaded insanity." He drawled out and Amity stiffened.

"Hey, don't even look at her!" Daryl snapped, lunging forward until the man drew his gun and Amity shifted forward.

"You even touch that trigger and I'll skewer you." Amity told him, voice cold.

"She your bitch, _gringo_?" The man sneered at Daryl, obviously intrigued.

"I'm nobodies bitch, asshole." Amity snapped. "But take another step and I'll make you one."

"Was that a threat?" The leader snapped before the blonde with the mustache cut in.

"What you got going on in there?" He asked, obviously trying to diffuse the mounting tension.

"It ain't none of yer concern." Daryl told him harshly.

"Don't be telling me what's my concern." The leader snapped.

"Chill, man." Big Tiny told the guy, stepping forward a bit. "Dude's leg is messed up. Besides, we're free now. Why are we still in here?"

"The man's got a point." Daryl added, trying to get them out of the prison as quickly as possible.

"Yeah, and I gotta check on my old lady." One of the other prisoners added.

"A group of civilians breaking into a prison you got no business being in- got me thinking there ain't no place for us to go." The leader told his group.

"Why don't you go find out?" Amity suggested with a sickly sweet smile.

"Maybe we'll just be going now." The mustached man said slowly.

"Hey, we ain't leaving!" The leader snapped and Amity heard a gun cock from nearby, T-Dog coming out of the cell and to stand at the other side of her.

"You ain't coming in either." T-Dog told them.

"Hey, this is my house, my rules. I go where I damn well please." The leader insisted and Amity kept her bow trained dead on the center of his head.

"It ain't your house anymore so back the fuck up or shut the fuck up!" Amity half-yelled at the man, losing her patience.

"I don't take orders from no loud-mouthed bitch!" He said, turning on the redhead and moving to stalk closer, Daryl and T-Dog shifting as he did so, but it was Big Tiny who stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Tomas." The large man said softly, as if trying to talk the man down.

The leader looked back at the man, roughly shoving his hand away from him but he didn't continue going after Amity.

"You don't know who the fuck you're messing with." One of the other prisoners snapped.

"Man, I'm gettin' real tired of y'all's mouths." Daryl warned them.

"Why don't you come over here and shut it then?" Tomas challenged.

"There ain't nothing for ya here. Why don't ya go back to yer own sandbox?" Daryl snarled as Rick jogged into the space, hands out to calm the situation.

"Hey hey, Daryl." He said, moving between Amity and the hunter as he approached the prisoners. "Hey, everyone relax. There's no need for this."

"How many of you are in there?" Tomas asked, gun pointed Daryl's direction even while he spoke to Rick.

"Too many for you to handle." Rick told him flatly.

"You guys rob a bank or something?" The leader asked. "Why don't you take him to a hospital?"

Amity exchanged a look with her companions at that, just now realizing how little they knew about what had gone on outside of their hiding spot.

"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" She asked, voice softer than it had been since Hershel was bit.

"Going on like ten months." Tomas revealed and the other four prisoners nodded.

"A riot broke out." Big Tiny added. "Never seen anything like it."

"Attica on speed, man." The mustached man cut in, his southern drawl letting Amity know that he wasn't a Georgia local- it held a different sort of twang.

"Ever heard about dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy." The smaller black prisoner said.

"One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria. Told us sit tight, threw me this piece, said he'd be right back." Tomas explained.

"Yeah, and that was 292 days ago." The other taller man said with a shake of his head.

"94 according to my calcula-" The mustached man began, but was cut off by Tomas.

"Shut up!" The man snapped.

"We were thinking that the army or the national guard should be showing up any day now." The taller man said and Amity looked over to catch T's eye briefly.

"There is no army." Rick told them.

"What do you mean?" Tomas asked, apparently not catching on.

"There's no government, no hospitals, no police. It's all gone." Rick explained.

"For real?" The mustached prisoner asked, sounding shocked.

"I'm serious." Rick confirmed.

"What about my moms?" Big Tiny asked, his eyes downcast.

"I'm sorry, Ezekiel." Amity told the man, knowing his story and about the two women that raised him who he cared for more than anything else.

"My kids? And my old lady?" The other tall prisoner asked. "Yo, you got a cell phone or something so that we can call our families?"

Amity shook her head, her lips pressing together into a thin line.

"Ya just don't get it, do ya?" Daryl asked harshly.

"No phones, no computers." Rick informed them. "As far as we can see, at least half the population has been wiped out. Probably more."

Amity noticed Daryl lowering his crossbow from out of the corner of her eye since Tomas had lowered his gun and considered doing the same before deciding against it. She refused to even give Tomas the chance to get a jump on her, even with the three men around her looking out for her.

"Ain't no way." Tomas said, refusing to believe the reality of the situation and Amity scoffed.

"See for yourself." Rick told him, gesturing towards the door that lead out.

As the four of them followed the prisoners, Daryl stuck close to her side.

"Stick close, girl. If one of them touch ya, break their goddamn hands." He told her and she just nodded, knowing that it wasn't the time to argue with him. His presence at her side was a comforting one anyways. She couldn't take on _every_ threat alone. She knew that much and she trusted Daryl enough to know that any of the prisoners would be hard-pressed to lay an eye on her, let alone a hand, with him around.

"Damn, the sun feels good." The taller man said as they walked out into the concrete yard.

"Good lord." The mustached one said to himself, looking around at the bodies that decorated the pavement. "They're all dead."

"Never thought I'd be so happy to see these fences." Tomas told his crew.

"You never said- how the hell did you get in here in the first place?" The smaller black man asked.

"Cut a hole in that fence over there by that guard tower." Daryl explained, gesturing towards where they had first came in.

"That easy, huh?"

"Where there's a will there's a way." Daryl said simply and the man scoffed.

"Easy for you to say."

"What are y'all's names anyways?" Amity asked, casting her icy eyes around to take in each of the men.

"I'm Axel, miss. It's nice to-" The mustached man began but Tomas cut him off.

"Tomas, little red- remember it. You can call me whenever you want me." The leader told her, making a show of looking her up and down which had her baring her teeth at him, moving closer to Daryl who had taken a step forward, going for the man until her hand on his arm stopped him.

"Ya look at her, ya even think about her, and I'll stomp yer ass!" The hunter threatened as Rick stepped forward, breaking them up once more.

"That's Andrew-" Big Tiny began, sensing that the need to end that conversation as he gestured to the smaller black man. "And that's Oscar." He pointed at the other tall man. "And I'm Big Tiny." He finished, mainly speaking to Rick and T-Dog then.

"Ezekiel." Amity corrected and the man shook his head at her, a small smile on his lips.

"You know him?" Rick questioned the redhead and she nodded, stepping out from behind Daryl as she addressed their leader.

"Old client- he's a nice guy." Amity said, offering the large man a smile. "Some stupid choices." She added, her voice bordering on scolding the man easily four times her size. "But he's a good one."

Big Tiny gave her a grateful look before returning his attention to the corpses around them, lightly poking one with the large stick he carried.

"So, what is this, like a disease?" He asked.

"Yeah, and we're all infected." Rick told them, apparently having no qualms about hiding that detail from the men.

"What do you mean infected?" Axel asked them. "Like AIDS or something?"

"If I was to kill ya, shoot an arrow in yer chest, ya'd come back as one of these things." Daryl told them, giving a bit of a graphic explaination but Amity would expect nothing less from him. "It's gonna happen to all of us."

"Ain't no way this Robin Hood cat is responsible for killing all these freaks." Tomas insisted. "Must be fifty bodies out here."

"He had some help." Amity said simply.

"Where'd you come from?" Tomas asked, moving towards Rick.

"Atlanta." The former sheriff answered simply.

"Where are you headed?" Tomas questioned.

"For now, nowhere." Rick replied stiffly.

"I guess you can take that area down there near the water. Should be comfortable." Tomas said and Rick nodded, not in agreement but seemingly a bit amused by the guy.

"We're using that field for crops." He told him.

"We'll help you move your gear out." Tomas added.

"That won't be necessary." Rick interjected. "We took out these walkers. This prison is ours."

"Slow down, cowboy." Tomas said and Amity narrowed her eyes at that. She was the only one allowed to throw out silly, slightly patronizing nicknames around here.

"You snatched the locks off our doors." Andrew said, moving to join Tomas.

"We'll give you new locks, if that's how you want it." Rick offered.

"This is our prison." Tomas insisted. "We were here first."

"Locked in a broom closet?" Rick asked them, not impressed. "We took it, set you free. It's ours. We spilled blood." He nearly growled at the other man.

"We're moving back into our cell block." Tomas told him.

"You'll have to get your own." Rick said, his voice leaving no room for argument but Tomas took it anyways.

"It is mine." He snapped. "I've still got personal artifacts in there. That's about as mine as it gets." He pulled the gun from the front of his pants, Daryl and Amity raising their bows as T-Dog drew his gun.

"Watch it there, bucko- unless you want to be shish kabob'd." Amity warned.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Axel said quickly, moving forward as he tried to keep the peace. "Maybe let's try to make this work out so everybody wins."

"I don't see that happening." Tomas said dismissively.

"Neither do I." Rick agreed.

"I ain't going back in that cafeteria for one more minute." Tomas told him.

"There are other cell blocks." Axel reasoned.

"You could leave." Daryl told him, his voice a low growl. "Try your luck out on the road."

There was silence as the prisoners exchanged looks, apparently trying to determine their next step before Tomas spoke again.

"If these three pussies and one bitch can do all this, the least we can do is take out another cell block." He told his crew.

"With what?" Big Tiny wondered.

"Atlanta here will spot us some real weapons." Tomas replied, looking at Rick. "Won't you, boss?"

"How stocked is that cafeteria? It must have plenty of food. Five guys lasting almost a year?" Rick wondered.

"It sure as hell don't look like anybody's been starving." Daryl added with a pointed glance towards Big Tiny.

"There's only a little left." Tomas told them.

"We'll take half. In exchange, we'll help clear out a cell block." Rick offered.

"Didn't you hear him? There's only a little left." Andrew spoke then, reminding Amity of a small dog- all yap and no bite.

"Calm down there, Sparky." The redhead told the man, raising her bow a bit more when he turned a heated glare her way, daring him to come at her.

"Bet you got more food than you got choices." Rick cut in. "You pay, we'll play. We'll clear out a block for you, then you keep to it."

"Alright." Tomas agreed after a moment of silence.

"Well, let's be clear. If we see you out here anywhere near our people, if I so much as even catch a whiff of your scent, I will kill you." Rick promised.

"Deal." Tomas agreed, nodding once and Amity watched him carefully.

She wasn't sure if she bought that. She believed that Axel was harmless and knew that Big Tiny was a good man, but Tomas was unpredictable and Andrew seemed like his hype man who was always ready for a fight. Oscar seemed to just float on the edges, making his own calls, but she had no doubts he would lash back if pushed.

They cleared out of the concrete yard moments after the agreement was made, following the prisoners back through the corridors.

"Pantry's back here." Tomas directed once they made it back to the cafeteria.

"You never tried to break out of here?" T-Dog asked as they looked around the trashed room.

"Yeah, we tried to take the doors off, but if you make one peep in here then those freaks'll be lined up outside the door growling, trying to get in. Windows got bars on there that He-man couldn't get through." Oscar told them.

"Bigger than a 5x8." Axel added.

"You won't find me complaining." Big Tiny interjected. "Doing 15. My left leg can barely fit on one of those bunks."

"Yeah, they don't call him Big Tiny for nothing." Oscar added with a small huff of a laugh.

"You done jerking each other off?" Tomas asked from the door leading to the kitchen. "Sick of waiting back here."

Amity rolled her eyes before moving to follow the men into the back, looking around at the food that lined the shelves.

"This what you call a little bit of food?" Amity asked as she went to enter the room, stepping forward and expecting for Tomas to move back but he stood in place, raising a dark brow at her.

Not even bothering to act like she noticed, Amity squeezed between the man and the shelves. She heard what resembled a growl from the doorway behind her and glanced up to see Tomas smirking over top of her head at someone as their chests all but brushed while she moved past.

"Goes fast." Tomas told her, his voice laced with what Amity thought was him trying to be appealing.

She shined her flashlight across the shelves, mentally taking stock of everything there as she pointedly ignored the man.

"You can have a bag of corn, some tuna fish." Tomas told the men standing outside of the pantry and that had Amity looking at him.

"We said half. That's the deal." Rick told the man simply and Daryl moved to join Amity in the pantry, coming straight to her side as he apparently wasn't comfortable with her being in the tight space with just Tomas and Andrew.

She hadn't been worried though. If one of them touched her she was sure that she wouldn't even have the chance to do as Daryl suggested and break their hands before one of her group put whoever down.

"What's in there?" Rick asked, going to open a door of what looked to be a freezer as Daryl's hand brushed against Amity's lower back, making her look up at him.

"Don't open that." Oscar warned the former sheriff but he had already pulled it open, gagging and coughing before he slammed it shut as the inmates laughed.

"He wanted to know." Tomas said with a smile.

"Can't wait for my own pot to piss in." Axel interjected, his voice a mixture between embarrassed and wistful.

As they waited for T-Dog and Rick to haul a majority of the food back to their cell block, Amity and Daryl waited with the prisoners in the cafeteria.

The redhead perched on one of the tables, her bow held in her hands though it rested against the seat under her feet to take some of the weight off her arms.

Big Tiny moved to cross the room towards her but hesitated when Daryl moved a step closer to the redhead, staring the inmate down until Amity lightly swatted his chest.

"He's good people." The woman told him but Daryl wasn't convinced.

"People change. The people who ya run with can change ya." He reasoned with her and Amity shook her head a bit at his over protective tendencies. He was as bad, if not worse, than her brother sometimes.

"You got a problem, redneck?" A voice asked from across the room and Amity looked to see Andrew glaring at them as he leaned against one of the tables.

"Yeah, man, I do and it starts and ends with y'all." Daryl snapped, not even bothering with pleasantries.

Amity hopped off the table and stepped in front of the angry hunter, resting her hands gently on his chest before one slid up to his cheek, grabbing his attention.

"We don't need to pick a fight." Amity told him, her voice quiet.

"Man, the world really must have ended if a bitch like that has eyes for that hick." Tomas said to his friends, Axel and Big Tiny looking away while Andrew laughed lightly.

"What'd you say earlier, Big T? That she was your doctor?" Tomas continued, obviously enjoying riling Daryl up. It was a bad game that Amity knew wouldn't end well for the prisoner. "Her standards must have dropped with there only being so many choices left. Lucky for her more options just opened up." He said, chuckling as Daryl went to move forward again but Amity stood firm in front of him, not letting him get by.

"Hey, doc. I've had some suspicions about a lump- mind taking a look for me?" Tomas called out towards the woman as he gestured towards his pants.

Daryl pushed passed the redhead then, drawing his large hunting knife from his belt as he went for the man who struggled to draw his gun from his waistband.

Rick and T-Dog entered the room in that moment, T-Dog carrying a bag of weapons while Rick seemed to catch on that something was going down and rushed to step in front of Daryl, stopping him in his tracks with an arm across his chest.

"Cool it." Rick told his friend sharply before turning and sending a hard look to the prisoner he had been after.

"Shut your mouth from here on out or you can figure out how to clear your cell block by yourself." Rick snapped and Tomas just nodded, his smirk still in place as his eyes flickered to Amity once more until Daryl stepped in front of his line of sight, blocking her from him.

"I'll enjoy shoving an arrow up yer ass when ya fuck up." The hunter growled before moving back to where Amity stood at one of the tables with T-Dog, the other man having spread the melee weapons out across the table top while Rick handled the situation that had brewed.

"Why do I need this-" Tomas began once he had crossed the room and picked up a hammer from the table. "-when I got this?" He finished, showing off the gun he had.

"You don't fire guns, not unless your back's up against a wall." Daryl told him, not being shy about the fact he thought his question was a stupid one. "Noise attracts them. It really riles them up."

"We'll go in pairs." Rick told the group. "Daryl will run point with Amity, I'll bring up the rear with T and you." He said, pointing his knife at Andrew.

"Stay tight, hold formation no matter how close the walkers get- anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down." He directed. "Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head."

"And that's where ya aim." Daryl informed them. "These things only go down with a head shot."

"Ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man." Tomas said, exchanging a dark look with Andrew.

"They're not men." Amity cut in, watching the pair of inmates that had just all but confessed to killing or beating someone with a calculating gaze.

"They're something else." T-Dog agreed.

"Just remember to go for the brain." Rick told them before they began to head for the doors, Amity being guided along ahead of Daryl with a hand on the small of her back.

They started making their way through the darkened corridors, Amity and Daryl creeping nearly silently around the corners before gesturing the group forward when it was determined that they were clear.

"Man, it's too damn dark in here." Big Tiny said from behind them and Amity held her finger to her lips when the man's flashlight beam settled on her for a moment, telling him to keep it down a bit.

"Gotta hold it up high out in front of ya." Daryl directed. "You're gonna hear 'em before ya see 'em."

They moved along down the hallway until the sound of something hitting metal rang out, followed by a low growling that Amity knew to be the sound of a walker.

"It's coming!" Axel yelled suddenly, making Amity look over her shoulder at the man with disbelief as Daryl and Big Tiny shushed him.

Daryl motioned for everyone to stop and Amity raised her bow, ready to cover the inmates if need be. The hunter held up three fingers then began to count them down but before he had finished, the prisoners were rushing for the two walkers that had appeared. Amity barely had a chance to step back out of the way as they blew past between her and Daryl.

They let out some kind of battle cry as they ran forward and proceeded to beat the walkers instead of killing them. They sent blow after blow to their torsos, kicking them once they had knocked one to the ground, but did nothing to end either of their movements.

She exchanged a look with the men at her side, almost amused with the prisoner's ignorance if they hadn't just spent so much time telling them the way to take the creatures out.

Without a word, Amity moved quietly forward and shot an arrow through the head of the walker that Big Tiny was holding as Axel repeatedly shanked him. T-Dog quickly took out the other on the ground by stabbing it through the head. The redhead looked at the two men next to her, Big Tiny having dropped the corpse after she killed it completely, and saw them both looking at her with wide eyes.

She knew that she was a very different person than when Big Tiny knew her and with that thought in her mind, she knelt down to rip her arrow out of the corpse's skull.

"It's gotta be the brain." Daryl told them once they were on the move again and a walker stumbled in to their sight. "Not the stomach, not the heart- the brain." He insisted, releasing a bolt that tore through one of the undead's skulls.

"I hear you." Axel told him. "The brain."

Oscar moved forward as the next one stumbled towards the group and buried his weapon into its head.

"Like that?" He asked as he backed up to rejoin them.

"Exactly right." Amity encouraged as two more walkers were taken out by the inmates, the last meeting its end by Rick's knife.

"Stay in tight formation." Rick commanded. "No more prison riot crap."

Amity stuck close to Daryl's side as she hooked her bow over her shoulder, drawing the machete from its home on her belt and helping to take care of the walkers that stumbled through the doorway in front of them.

She buried her weapon in skull after skull, using her foot as leverage to rip it out when it got stuck. She was so focused that she didn't realize Big Tiny wasn't joining them in killing the undead until a yell of pain had her turning around in time to see Rick end a walker that was almost on top of the large man.

She flinched down as gunshots rang out deafeningly loud through the enclosed space, Tomas apparently having shot the already ended walker.

Amity ducked around the ridiculous amount of men in the space and moved forward to look at Big Tiny's wound.

Rick directed Big Tiny to remove his top layer, leaving him in only a tank top so they could see the extent of the damage. At the sight of the large scratch, Amity took a step back, shaking her head with regret.

He was scratched by a walker and that led to the same end result as being bit.

"I'm telling you, I don't feel anything." Big Tiny insisted after seeing the look on Amity's face and realizing it was bad. "It's just a scratch."

"I'm sorry, man." Rick told the guy, sounding truly regretful.

"I can keep fighting!" Big Tiny insisted.

"You cut that old guy's leg off to save his life." Andrew pointed out but Rick shook his head.

"Look at where the bite is." He told him.

"Guys, I'm fine!" Big Tiny yelled, that being the only time Amity had ever heard the man raise his voice. "Just- I'm fine." He added, quieting down as he tried to reason with them.

"I'm sorry, Ezekiel. There's... there's no coming back from it." Amity told the man, fighting against the tears that pricked in her eyes and taking another step back as the man turned to her.

"Doctor Walker, l-look at me." He pleaded with her before casting his eyes around the group. "I'm not changing into one of those things." He insisted.

Amity felt the warmth of someone behind her and leaned back slightly, knowing it was Daryl who had come up next to her. She took a step closer to him, her back pressed against his chest as she sought a bit of comfort in that moment.

"Look, man, there has to be something we can do." Oscar said. "We could just lock him up."

"Quarantine him." Axel added.

"We gotta do something." Andrew insisted. "Why you just standing there? We gotta save him!"

"There's nothing we can do." Rick repeated.

"You son of a bitch." Andrew snapped.

"I'm all ri-" Big Tiny began but was cut off by a hammer being slammed into his skull. Amity stood shocked as Tomas watched the man's body drop from his blow, meeting Rick's eyes before looking at the hammer and slamming it into the man's skull once more.

Amity went to move forward to make the man stop mutilating her old acquaintance but an arm hooking around her waist stopped her. She turned then, burying her face in Daryl's chest as she squeezed her eyes closed and worked to block out the sound of the man who always meant well, who was a gentle giant caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, get his skull smashed to pieces.

When Tomas finally stopped, all that filled the corridor was the sound of the crazed man's heavy breathing and Amity felt a gentle squeeze from the rough hand that wrapped around her's for a brief second- an act of comfort and reassurance.

Amity took only a few more seconds to convince herself that she was okay, that she could face the situation, before she opened her eyes and stepped out of Daryl's space, making herself stand on her own.

She spotted Tomas moving down the corridor covered in Big Tiny's blood and exchanged a look with Rick before they all moved to follow.

This time T-Dog took point alone while Amity hung back with Daryl and Rick, moving just behind the two men as they kept an eye on Tomas in front of them.

"Ya see the look on his face?" Daryl asked Rick, knowing that Amity hadn't.

"He makes one move..." Rick began and Daryl nodded.

"Just give me a signal." He told the man.

They moved into what looked to be the laundry room of the prison next, old washers and dryers sat around the room covered in dust. There were a pair of double doors at the back of the room and it was clear by the noise coming from them that there was a sizable group of walkers behind them.

Daryl pulled the keys off of his belt, tossing them to the ground at Tomas' feet who looked at them like they had grown a second head each.

"I ain't opening that." He told them.

"Yes, you are." Rick countered. "If you want this cell block, you're gonna open that door. Just the one, not both of them, because we need to control this."

The hispanic man hesitated, looking around at the group before leaning down and scooping the keys up. He moved to the doors, trying a few keys in the lock before he found the right one and looked over his shoulder at them all.

"You bitches ready?" He asked and Amity raised her bow as everyone spread out, their weapons raising as well.

The man gave a tug on one of the doors but it didn't budge, so he pulled once more before reaching forward and gripping both handles, sending both doors flying wide open.

"I said one door!" Rick snarled at him, taking down a walker as it approached.

"Shit happens." Tomas shot back and Amity let her arrow fly, dropping a walker before nocking another arrow into place.

She sent that one flying as well before catching Rick stumbling to the ground a few feet away, a walker on top of him.

"T, mind the gap." Daryl told their companion, moving as Amity did towards the former sheriff but the redhead backed off when she realized he was closer and instead took out one of the last undead stumbling through the doors.

She turned to see Daryl helping their leader to his feet, the man going for Tomas.

"It was coming at me, bro." Tomas defended and Amity realized that he must have shoved the walker at Rick.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Rick said evenly, stopping just in front of the hispanic man. "Shit happens."

There was a long moment of silence as the men stared one another down then Rick lunged, embedding the machete in his hand deep into Tomas' skull.

A yell of protest came from Andrew as he rushed for Rick, ready to bring him down with the bat in his hands but Rick kicked his legs out from under him.

"Easy now." Daryl warned, his bow pointed at the man who stood and fled as Amity nocked an arrow into place.

"I got him." Rick said before taking off after the guy.

Amity surveyed the situation really quick as Daryl ordered the other two down on their knees. She decided all at once to leave T-Dog and Daryl to control the two remaining prisoners and took off after Rick.

"Amity, girl-" Daryl called after her but she wasn't stopping.

She sprinted through the corridors, following the sound of the two men's footsteps the best that she could but ended up getting turned around once or twice. After hearing a door slam, Amity finally found her way to Rick just as the screaming that was sounding from the door behind the man came to a stop.

She held Rick's gaze for a moment, glancing at the closed door before nodding once, gesturing back down the corridor with a flick of her head. The man hesitated only a moment before beginning to walk, the pair moving side-by-side in silence until they made it back to the laundry room.

Daryl's eyes scanned her quickly as if reassuring himself that she was okay as Rick crossed the room to get in Oscar's face.

"We didn't have nothing to do with that." Oscar told him evenly.

Amity moved to T's side, avoiding the pleading look that Axel was giving her.

"You didn't know?" Rick asked the man he was standing in front of. "You knew." He insisted before turning to point his gun at Axel's head.

"Daryl, let's end this now." He said simply but was cut off my Axel's pleas.

"Sir, please, listen to me! It was them that was bad." The man begged. "It wasn't us."

"Oh, that's convenient." Rick sneered.

"You saw what he did to Tiny." Axel said, looking to Amity. "He was my _friend_. Please, we ain't like that."

He returned his attention to Rick. "I like my pharmaceuticals, but I'm no killer. Oscar here, he's a B and E, and he ain't very good at it neither. We ain't the violent kind, they were! Please, I swear to God! I wanna live!"

Amity looked at the other prisoner as Rick turned to put his gun to his head now, the woman noting that Daryl already held his large knife to the man's throat, ready to end him as soon as Rick gave the go-ahead.

It was an unnerving sight, but after seeing what she just had, Amity couldn't afford for her moral compass to get in the way of her friend's lives.

"What about you?" Rick asked Oscar.

"I ain't never pleaded for my life." The man told him. "And I ain't about to start now, so you do what you gotta do."

Amity could respect that and it seemed that Rick did as well as he had T-Dog and Daryl haul the two men to their feet.

They followed them all the way to the now cleared B block, letting them enter the space first before stepping in as well.

"Oh, man." Axel said, his voice heavy as he took in the inmate's corpses laid out on the ground in front of their cells. "I knew these guys." He told them. "They were good men."

Amity exchanged a look with Daryl, a small frown on her lips as she watched the men take in their fallen friends. Empathy was tearing at her chest.

"Let's go." Rick told them.

"So you're just gonna leave us in here?" Oscar asked him. "Man, this is sick."

"We're locking down this cell block." Rick told him without any sympathy in his voice. "From now on, this part of the prison is yours. Take it or leave it. That was the deal."

"Ya think this is sick? Ya don't wanna know what's outside." Daryl told the two former convicts, his voice softer than Amity was expecting.

"Consider yourselves the lucky ones." Rick interjected before he was walking away.

"Sorry about yer friends, man." Daryl told Axel, looking between them before turning to follow Rick.

Both T-Dog and Amity hesitated, obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

"A word of advice-" T-Dog began, gaining the pair's attention. "Take those bodies outside and burn them."

With that the man was leaving and Amity was left alone, looking at the pair through the bars.

"I'm sorry about your friends, about Eze- Big Tiny." She told them and Axel gave her a thankful nod.

"He was a good man." Axel said softly. "You knew that."

"I did. He didn't deserve what happened to him... It seems that almost everyone in this world that goes down by one of those things doesn't deserve it." Amity said, sighing softly. "What Daryl said was the truth, you know? Out there- it's worse. Way worse. I know it's hard, but... just count your blessings and take T's advice." She suggested, getting to nods in return before she jumped as a hand touched her shoulder.

She whipped around with her machete already raising to see that it was, of course, Daryl who had snuck up on her.

"Jesus." She breathed out and the man gave her a tight half grin.

"Not quite." He told her, receiving an eye roll in return.

"Get movin', girl. Got a damn death wish wanderin' off by yerself." Daryl told her and Amity smiled softly as she remembered some of their first interactions at the quarry camp.

"Aye aye, Captain." She replied, saluting him playfully before heading off in the direction he had come from.

Daryl hesitated a moment more, his eyes looking over the two men on the other side of the gate before he gave them a short nod and went to follow the redhead back to their cellblock.

Upon entering the cellblock, Amity was relieved to hear the news that Hershel had woken up for a moment, even if it was after stopping breathing and scaring Lori and everyone else half to death.

She was engulfed in a tight hug by her brother, the man letting her know clear as day that she wasn't going to be going off on anymore walker killing missions without him at her side.

"I refuse to be the wife sittin' at home worryin' 'bout if their loved one is goin' to come home from war." Michael told her simply, making her laugh before he ruffled her hair and pushed her in the direction of the stairs.

"Get some sleep, Bug. You look dead on your feet." Michael insisted and Amity nodded, only taking the time to use a rag and some water to wipe off her hands, arms, and face before climbing the stairs.

"Ya good, Cherry?" A gravelly voice asked from behind her just as she went to enter her cell, the simple sound of it bringing a smile to her lips.

She turned to see the man she had become so fond of sitting on the mattress that covered most of his perch, leaning forward until his elbows rested on his knees as he looked at her.

She took in the dirt that covered his skin and the way his vest and sleeveless shirt showed off his toned arms, his skin sun-kissed by the ridiculous amount of time they spent outdoors while on the road.

He was a bit of a mess- and he left her breathless.

"Come lay with me?" She asked in return, catching him off guard apparently if the expression on his face was anything to go by.

She gave him a pleading look, not wanting to pull him into anything he was uncomfortable with but she wasn't wanting to be alone, not after the day they had.

Amity waited while he mulled her request over, smiling once he pushed himself to his feet and started her way.

"Ya better not hog all the blankets like ya did on the road." Daryl grumbled at her as she kicked off her boots, quickly climbing onto her bed and scooting as far towards the wall as she could.

"Well you better not snore like you did on the road, Dixon." She countered as he carefully laid down next to her, one arm resting under the back of his head while she moved to let him slide the other under her neck and head.

She slowly rested one of her hands on his chest, laying on her side so that she could catch a glimpse of his blue eyes that never failed to send her heart racing in her chest.

"I don't snore." Daryl told her and Amity snorted softly.

"You keep telling yourself that, Dixon."


	15. Chapter 15

Amity stood by and watched as the Suburban worked with their large pick-up truck to pull the overturned bus that laid in front of the main gate off to the side so that the vehicles would have easier access to and from the prison.

The scraping noise that it made as it moved was horrendous, but once the task was done the woman quickly moved forward to help unchain the bus and let the truck and suburban pull up further into the yard.

"Okay, let's get the other car in." Rick told the group. "We'll park 'em in the west entry of the yard."

Amity nodded at that, resting her hands on her hips as she looked over the massive space around them.

"Good, our vehicles camped out there look like a giant 'vacancy' sign." Daryl said, moving up the drive with Rick a bit as Amity hovered near Carol, Michael, and T-Dog.

"After that, we need to load up these corpses so we can burn 'em." Rick added to the to-do list.

"Gonna be a long day." T-Dog mused and Amity lightly nudged the man with her elbow, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Where's Glenn and Maggie?" Rick asked. "We could use some help."

"Up in the guard tower." Amity replied, barely being able to suppress the smirk that appeared on her lips. Michael caught sight of it and turned his eyes to the guard tower before looking at his sister again and letting out a laugh.

"Guard tower?" Rick questioned. "They were just up there last night."

"Damn kids these days." Amity joked, waggling her brows at their leader when he looked at her in confusion. The action finally seeming to make it dawn on him what was going on.

"Glenn! Maggie!" Daryl yelled towards the tower and the small group waited a moment before the door of the tower opened and Glenn stumbled out shirtless, trying to do up his belt.

Amity couldn't resist letting out a teasing wolf whistle at the sight, seeing Glenn's face turn bright red even from how far off they were.

"Hey, what's up, guys?" He asked awkwardly, glancing over his shoulder to where Maggie must have been.

"Ya comin'?" Daryl yelled out to him.

Carol barely suppressed her laughter at that, Amity and Michael didn't even bother to try.

"What?" Glenn called back, clearly not thinking he heard him right.

"Ya comin'?" Daryl repeated with a teasing smirk, Carol reaching over to swat at the man's arm.

"Come on, we could use a hand." He added, trying to actually get the pair moving.

"Yeah, we'll be right down." Glenn called back, disappearing into the guard tower once more.

"The guard tower, there's a thought." Amity said, teasingly bumping her hip against Daryl's as they headed back towards the cars.

"Stop." Daryl told her though a slight smirk laid on his lips.

T-Dog calling out had Amity turning with the other three who were walking with them, spotting what T-Dog had. The two remaining inmates of the prison were coming along the fence towards them.

The redhead cursed to herself, hoping that Rick went easy on the two men who seemed like reasonably decent guys even as they broke their agreement.

"Come with me." Rick told them and four of them trailed along behind their leader while Daryl fell into step next to him- his right hand man as usual.

"That's close enough." Rick warned the two men once they entered through the gate. "We had an agreement."

"Please, mister. We know that." Axel began, pausing as Glenn and Maggie came out of the tower behind them. "We made a deal, but you've gotta understand, we can't live in that place another minute. You follow me? All the bodies- people we knew. Blood, brains everywhere. There's ghosts."

"Why don't ya move the bodies out?" Daryl asked.

"You should be burning them." T-Dog said, reminding them of the advice he had given.

"We tried." Axel told him. "We did."

"The fence is down on the far side of the prison. Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. So we're dropping the body and just running back inside." Oscar explained and Amity looked between her group members, reading their responses to the story.

"Look, we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew." Axel insisted, moving forwards towards them. " _Nothing_. You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro. We'll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Just, please- _please, d_ on't make us live in that place."

"Our deal is not negotiable. You either live in your cell block, or you leave." Rick said simply.

"I told you this was a waste of time." Oscar told his companion, looking at him before shooting a hard look towards Rick. "They ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys."

"You know how many friends' corpses we had to drag out this week?" He asked them. "Just threw 'em out, like... These were good guys. Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint, like Tomas and Andrew. We've all made mistakes to get in here, chief. And I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me we've paid our due- enough that we would rather hit that road than to go back into that shithole."

Oscar had a presence about him, Amity noted. Something about the way he spoke let you know that he was putting it all on the table without any ruse. She believed what he was saying, but it wasn't her that Rick looked back to to get an opinion- it was Daryl.

She glanced over at the man as well, watching as the hunter shook his head. Though he may had sympathized with the men, Amity knew better than to think that he would risk the group's safety over an emotion such as that.

"C'mon, dude." Axel pleaded softly as Daryl locked up the main gate to let the men leave as they said they would rather, but both prisoners lingered, leaning heavily against the chain link.

Amity stood at Daryl's side, her eyes trained on the two men even as Daryl moved away from them.

"Amity." Michael grunted, gesturing her over and away from the two inmates that he was looking at with no softness in his gaze.

The redhead gave them a pressed smile, hoping they saw that she was sorry for what was happening and went to the group.

"Are you serious? You want them living in a cell next to you?" Rick was asking T-Dog as Amity rounded the corner of the bus with Daryl who had been waiting for her to join him. "They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?"

Glenn and Maggie had fully joined them and Amity met the younger woman's gaze, noting how she kept her arms firmly across her chest as if steeling herself against the hard conversation. Maggie was an inherently kind person, that much Amity knew, but she also knew the woman had the capability of being as tough as nails when it came to making choices for her survival and that of the ones she loved.

"I never stopped." T-Dog stated. "Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves."

"I don't know." Glenn said softly. "Axel seems a little unstable."

"He's afraid." Amity corrected.

"So you agree with T-Dog?" Rick asked her and the woman barely hesitated before nodding her head.

"I do. I don't believe either of them mean us any harm. They're just two guys wanting to survive and make a life for themselves- just like us." She answered him, her words sure.

"After all we've been through? We fought so hard for all this, what if they decide to take it?" Carol asked them, trying to make a point.

"It's just been us for so long. They're strangers." Maggie said, her voice hushed. "I don't- it just feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around."

"You brought us in." T-Dog reminded her.

"Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms." Maggie countered. "Didn't give us a choice."

"Well, y'all brought me in outside of Atlanta... and then Rick, you brought Michael back." Amity added, backing up T-Dog's point.

"That was different." Carol said, though Amity didn't see how.

"I didn't spend my evenin's with a killer and walk up in a prison jumpsuit, Bug." Michael pointed out. "And I doubt you did either."

"They were locked in a room with the guy, that doesn't make them best friends." Amity chided.

"They can't even kill walkers." Glenn cut in.

"They're convicts, bottom line." Carol stressed, shaking her head lightly.

"That doesn't make them not human beings." Amity said, growing frustrated. "Axel said he had trouble with pharmaceuticals- he was an addict, that shouldn't sentence him to death and Oscar had a B&E charge- that could be for a number of reasons, you can't just assume their terrible as people because they were locked up."

"Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do." T-Dog commented and Amity remembered Tony in that moment, the man she shot through the heart.

"I get guys like this. Hell, I grew up with 'em. They're degenerates, but they ain't psychos." Daryl said, briefly meeting Amity's eyes as the woman turned to him, surprised to hear him adding to their case. "I could have been with 'em just as easy as I am out here with you guys."

"So are you with me and Red?" T-Dog asked him.

"Hell, no." Daryl objected. "Let 'em take their chances out on the road just like we did."

"What I'm saying, Daryl- " T-Dog began as Amity sighed softly, but the man was cut off by Rick.

"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid." The former sheriff began. "Wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial- suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and two weeks later shot he another girl." He paused, letting his words hang in the air between them. "We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands." He concluded before walking back up the gravel path.

"Nice horror story, Cap." Amity told Rick flatly as she caught up with him, only slowing her pace to meet the man's eyes before she was continuing on a few steps ahead of the rest of them.

"Move the cars to the upper yard." Rick directed suddenly after having fell silent for a few moments following Amity's comment. She heard the jingling of keys and then Glenn was jogging past her, the young man reaching out to lightly touch her shoulder as he went. "Point them facing out. They'll be out of the way but ready to go if we ever need to bail."

"We'll get the prisoners a week's worth of supplies for the road." Rick added, his voice quieter and Amity glanced over her shoulder to see he was talking to T-Dog.

"They might not last a week." T-Dog said simply, not even looking at their leader.

"It's their choice." Rick insisted.

"Did they really have one?" T-Dog asked and Rick stopped him in his tracks, Amity moving on from the two men and through the main gate instead of sticking around to listen to Rick defend his case.

She stopped by Daryl who was mounting his bike, the man meeting her gaze for a long moment before reaching out and gently tugging on a piece of her ginger hair that had escaped its bun.

"Don't give me that look, girl." He said quietly.

"What look?" She countered, having a small sense of de ja vu.

"Ya know what look." He replied, a half smile gracing his lips as he tried to pull one out of her as well, but a voice cut over their moment.

"Twin cylinder." Axel announced, looking over Daryl's bike and causing the hunter to scowl at him.

"Is that a Triumph?" The former inmate asked.

"Don't even look at it." Daryl snapped at him and Amity backed up a step as he stood, kicking the bike to life.

"Didn't want it bored out?" Axel asked him before shouting over the engine. "Sounds like it could use a tune-up. I'm pretty handy with a wrench." He informed the obviously not interested man. "Heads are leakin'." He added in one last attempt before Daryl was gesturing Amity onto the back of the bike.

She hesitated, still not on board with the choice he had made regarding the prisoners beside them, but as she met his Georgia blues she knew that it wasn't something she could let get between them.

The moral line was blurred now more than ever and just because she thought that she stood on the right side of that line didn't make it a fact. Her views could be as skewed as anyone else's.

Throwing a leg over to straddle the motorcycle, Amity sat and pressed herself close against the man's back- having no qualms about doing so as she had when she first started riding with him and simply waited for him to relax under the touch.

He still often tensed when they were close, mainly when she would touch him and catch him off guard, so she tried to be more obvious with her actions and intentions when she could.

She knew touch was a hard thing for him to handle sometimes and she always gave him the room to initiate it first or back away if he wasn't comfortable. She never wanted him to feel like it was something he had to do, not when it came to her.

"I know my bikes!" Axel called after them but Daryl already had them roaring away without a backwards glance.

Once the bike was parked, Amity left Daryl's side so he could go with the main group of men as she rode with Maggie. They, along with Carol and T-dog, were finishing lining the vehicles up along the gate as Rick directed.

The redhead propped her feet up on the dash of the Hyundai as she watched the fence move by her in reverse.

"Did you just come along to get to be lazy?" Maggie asked her with amusement.

"What could you ever mean, Greene?" Amity replied innocently. "Look how much hard work I'm doing! You would be so distraught at being alone without me that you surely would have backed this thing straight into the fence." She insisted and Maggie rolled her eyes as she brought the car to a stop.

"You're ridiculous." Maggie informed her and Amity just laughed as she climbed out of the vehicle.

Crossing around the front of the hood, the woman spotted Hershel making his way across the concrete yard with Beth, Lori, and Carl at his side.

"Whoa, look at you go, Hershel!" She called out to him with a bright smile as she settled next to Maggie, glancing at the younger woman and feeling a warmth in her chest as her friend's smile seemed to grow that much more at the sight of her father being mobile once more.

She heard Glenn whoop in the distance and spotted the group of men consisting of Rick, Glenn, Daryl, and Michael all stood in between the two perimeter fences- the men seemingly having paused in whatever they were doing to enjoy the peaceful moment.

The redhead searched for the pair of blue eyes that she always seemed to be seeking out and felt her heart speed up in her chest when she finally met them, no matter how distant they were from her.

Amity beamed at Daryl from where she stood, the man looking taken aback for a moment by the action before he returned her smile with a soft one of his own.

Their moment of happiness was short-lived as Carl suddenly turned on his heels, eyes wide as he shouted, "Walkers!"

Daryl's eyes found the horde just as Amity looked to where the young boy had been focused, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of the undead moving towards them. She reached for her bow on her shoulder just to remember that she had left the weapon in her cell, assuming that she wouldn't need it within the fences.

Thinking she was safe was the worst mistake she could have made.

"No! Get out!" She heard Rick yell, but she had to block him out and focus on the terror in front of her.

"Amity! Run!" She heard her brother roar, the four men sprinting full force towards the gate that separated them from their loved ones.

Amity ignored her brother's words, moving alongside Maggie as both women crossed the space towards the on-coming danger. Amity had resorted to hand-to-hand, a dangerous maneuver with the number of walkers that were crowding the space but she had no choice as the only weapons she had on her were her machete and knife.

"That gate is open!" T-Dog yelled, the man gunning down another walker as he made his way towards the opening he had mentioned.

Amity hacked her way through the mess of them, clearing a path the best that she could as Maggie ran for one of the gates, gesturing Lori inside as Amity covered the pregnant woman and her son.

"Lori! Here! Come on!" Amity yelled at her, her back facing the pair as she fought hard to guard them.

"This way!" Maggie yelled.

Once Lori and Carl had made it into the gate, the brunette lunged forward, her hand wrapping around Amity's elbow as she hauled the redhead back, closing the gate behind them to provide a bit of safety.

"Whoa- wait, T-Dog and Carol are still out there!" Amity protested but Maggie tugged her along, preceding both Carl and Lori into the cell block and Lori pulled the heavy metal door shut behind them as well.

"They can handle themselves, we need to get Lori and Carl to safety." Maggie told her friend and the woman hesitated only a moment before nodding.

"You take point, I'll cover our asses." Amity said, moving behind the pregnant mother and her son and they headed towards their cells only to have Maggie yelling and ushering them the other way as a group of walkers came after them.

"Shit." Amity snapped, making sure the other three were in the corridor before she pulled the iron gate shut between them and the walkers just in the nick of time.

"Keep moving!" The redhead yelled at her friend, the younger woman taking the order with haste and starting the way through the corridors that held unknown dangers.

* * *

The sight of the walkers heading towards the group, the group that was separated from them with a lot of distance and more than one lock, had Daryl's heart dropping to his stomach.

"Amity!" He yelled, bolting after Rick with Michael hot on his heels, the Daryl-proclaimed 'cowboy' yelling at his sister and Carol to get out of there- a sentiment the hunter agreed with but knew the redhead woman definitely wouldn't listen to.

Never before had Daryl ran so fast, never before had fear gripped his body like it was as he caught the keys Glenn threw him, all but launching them at Rick as the leader ran ahead.

They came to the final gate and he pulled up short as Rick fumbled with the lock, Daryl's hands gripping his crossbow so tight that his knuckles were stark white.

"Come on!" Daryl snapped at the man, resisting the urge to rip the keys from his hands and try the lock himself until the gate was finally being pushed open and he was barreling through it.

"Get out of the way!" Michael snapped at the former prisoners who were stood there looking at the chaos with a fair bit of terror in their eyes. The large man was leaving no room for pleasantries as he all but shoved past the two, his blue eyes following the slight figure of Carol now who was ducking through a doorway trying to get to safety- Amity having already disappeared into the cellblock with Maggie, Carl, and Lori at her side.

That alone had a knot forming harshly in Daryl's stomach. He knew the redhead too well and knew that she would do anything, even sacrifice herself, to keep those three specifically alive.

She would sacrifice herself for anyone in the group, he knew that if he let himself be honest, but she had become closer with Maggie than anyone else outside of Michael and maybe himself- and cared for Carl and Lori like extended family.

"Let's go!" Rick yelled as they sprinted across the yard.

Daryl let out some of his panic on the skulls of walkers that were roaming around as Rick yelled back to Hershel and Beth who had locked themselves safely behind some fences.

"What the hell happened?" Rick yelled as he looked up at them.

"The gate was open!" Beth told him, her voice terrified.

"Where's Lori, Carl, everyone else?" Rick asked.

"Maggie and Amity led Lori and Carl into C block." Hershel informed him over the snarling walkers.

"And T was bit!" Beth added frantically.

"Anyone else?" Rick questioned them.

"I couldn't tell." The young girl admitted and that had Daryl's panic coming back full-force. He couldn't imagine putting anyone else in their group down, but the thought of Amity's cornflower blue eyes being hazed over like a geek's had him feeling sick to his stomach.

"Stay put." Rick ordered them, moving to reconvene with Glenn and Michael, Daryl joining them after ripping his knife out of the final walker in the yard's skull.

"Those chains didn't break on their own." Glenn informed them. "Someone took an ax or cutters to them."

The four men looked at the prisoners who were cautiously coming through the gate after them, looking at the slaughter with wariness.

"You think they did it?" Glenn wondered.

"Who else?" Rick replied before an alarm was blaring over the court yard.

* * *

Amity nearly leapt out of her skin as an alarm suddenly sounded through the corridor, one of her hands going to her ear as she tried to block it out the best that she could but to no avail.

The group of four continued to walk swiftly down the corridor, Amity moving carefully backwards while working hard to keep up with them until Lori halted their progress, the woman leaning against the wall and letting out a groan. The redhead was at the woman's side immediately, one hand rubbing down her back as the other still kept a tight grip on her machete.

"Can you keep up?" Maggie asked the pregnant woman, leaning in close as Lori let out another groan.

"Something's not right." She told them.

"Are you bit?" Carl asked, his voice holding a fair amount of fear.

"No, no, no." Lori reassured him, her voice pained. "I think the baby's coming." She revealed, turning to lean back against the wall as Amity cursed loudly.

"Mom?" Carl asked worriedly, but Amity moved to shove the boy on down the corridor when the sound of walkers reached her ears, leaving Lori to Maggie as she doubled back to hold the undead off as much as she could.

"No, there's no time! Go back!" Lori insisted, the trio moving on as Amity darted forward to stab the walker in the lead through its forehead.

As she moved backwards to keep her eyes on the ever approaching walkers, the former psychologist had a hard time keeping up with her companions. They had to change directions more than once, everywhere they turned was cut off by the undead until finally Amity heard Carl's voice declare, "In here!"

She turned another corner just in time to see Carl about to shut the door and ran forward, slipping inside before pushing it shut hard behind her, struggling with it for a moment before it finally snapped shut while Maggie helped lead Lori further into the room.

Amity stood on the platform that the door was on, her machete held at the ready as she prepared for the walkers to throw themselves against the thing, breaking it in to get to their prey, but the undead kept moving past as the alarm blared, apparently having covered the sound of her slamming the door.

* * *

"What's that?" Rick bellowed, looking around him as the alarm blared.

"Oh ya gotta be kidding me!" Daryl spat, seeing that the noise was attracting walkers to the outside gates of the prison- just another problem to add to the pile they had growing in front of them.

"Daryl!" Rick yelled before shooting at one of the speakers. "Kill it!"

The hunter responded with actions instead of words, shooting out the next speaker and he spotted Michael doing the same to another.

"How the hell could this be happening?" Rick snapped, rounding on the prisoners that had joined them in the concrete yard.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Oscar said, trying to get the man to back off. "It has to be the backup generators."

"Well, how do you turn those on?" Rick asked impatiently.

"There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison. The hatch shut them all off when the prison was overrun." Oscar explained.

"Can someone open up the main gates electronically with full power?" Rick questioned.

"I was only in there a few days. I guess it might be possible." Oscar said, his voice unsure.

"Come with us!" Rick snapped before turning to haul ass, Daryl right on his heels as Michael and Glenn took up the rear to egg the former inmates on.

"Lori! Carl!" Daryl heard Rick yell as the man went straight for the cell block, Michael following him to cover his ass while Daryl and Glenn made quick work of the five geeks that were in the common area.

"We just took down five of 'em in there." Daryl said as he finally moved into the cell block as well, the rest of their group trailing along behind him once the walkers were moving no more.

"They were four in here, but no sign of Lori or anyone." Rick informed him, Daryl bending to load another arrow into his crossbow as the man spoke.

"They must have been pushed back into the prison." Glenn reasoned.

"Somebody is playing games!" Rick snarled, his eyes frantic and Daryl knew the feeling. The man was chomping at the bit himself to tear through the prison and find the rest of the group, to find Amity- and the way that Michael was trembling at his side, he knew the man shared the feeling as well.

"We'll split up and look for the others." The leader commanded, already heading out of the empty cellblock and towards the corridor that would lead them into the rest of the prison. "Whoever gets to the generators first, shut 'em down!"

"Let's go!" Daryl yelled as he shot forward, only a step behind his friend, his frayed nerves thankful to be on the move.

Wherever she was, Amity had to be alright.

Daryl didn't know what he would do with himself otherwise.

* * *

"What are those alarms?" Lori asked as she grasped at some pipes that lined the walls.

"Don't worry about it." Amity told her, only coming down the steps then- torn between wanting to guard them and wanting to help Lori.

"What if it attracts them?" Carl asked but the ginger woman shook her head at the boy, telling him to let it go and that it wasn't something to worry about right then.

"Lori, let's lay you down." Maggie insisted but the mother shook her off, still grasping at the wall.

"No, the baby's coming now." The woman informed them and Amity chewed her lip, more than a little out of her element in that moment. She would have preferred being out in the hall amongst the walkers than in that room while Lori gave birth.

"We have to get back to our cell block to have Hershel help." Carl said frantically.

"We can't risk getting caught out there." Maggie told him before looking to Lori. "You're gonna need to give birth to this baby here."

"Great." Lori said, her voice holding no lack of snark before her breathing became labored and fast.

"What is she doing?" Amity asked, her blue eyes wide as she took in the woman, who in her opinion, seemed to be on the edge of a panic attack.

"Can't she breathe?" Carl added.

"She's fine." Maggie reassured them both, looking at Amity for a moment as if to tell her to get her head in the game.

"Come here, let's get your pants off." Maggie requested from Lori and the woman moved as she directed, not fighting with her as the younger woman pulled her jeans from her legs before getting her to lay down.

"You're gonna need to help deliver your brother or sister." Maggie told Carl. "You up for it?" She waited for a moment before turning to Amity who looked a bit green in the face. "Amity?" She asked and the woman nodded, obviously reluctant.

"Amity, go watch the door." The younger woman directed, letting her off the hook unless she really needed her. "If I call you, come here immediately."

"You got it." Amity promised before moving quickly away from the scene.

"Alright, let me see if its dilated." She heard Maggie say from behind her.

"Do you know how?" Carl asked.

"Dad taught me, but trust me, it's my first time." Maggie explained, a pause following her words as she examined Lori.

"I can't tell." She admitted.

"I gotta push." Lori told them, moving to rise to her feet with the help of Maggie, Amity glancing over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't needed before returning her gaze pointedly to the door.

"I gotta push." Lori repeated before letting out a pained groan, obviously doing as she said before whispering a broken, "I'm okay, I'm okay."

"You're doing great, Lori." Amity called over her shoulder, having no idea if she was or not but while birth wasn't her thing, being encouraging definitely was.

"Just keep doing it. Your body knows what to do. Let it do all the work." Maggie said soothingly, trying to guide the woman through her pain.

"You're doing great." Amity said again before Maggie cut across her, sounding fearful.

"Lori, don't push- stop." She told the older woman. "Something's wrong."

Lori let out a scream that had Amity's blood running cold as she turned around filled with panic that just increased tenfold at the sight of blood covering Maggie's hand.

* * *

"Daryl, get the door!" Rick yelled as he burst into a room only a step ahead of the hunter, Oscar at their side as well.

Daryl threw himself back against the steel of the door as directed, Oscar helping him hold the walkers out that pressed against the other side. When they had split up Michael, Glenn, and Axel had taken another route from the three that had seemingly made it to the generator room.

"How do you shut these down?!" Rick yelled back at the former inmate as he looked over the machines, obviously having no idea how they worked.

"Go help 'em. I got it." Daryl assured the man at his side, pushing against the door with all of his strength. After a moment, he heard a commotion behind him, the sound of fighting reaching his ears and glanced the best he could over his shoulder just in time to see Rick struggling against Andrew, the prisoner that Daryl had thought was dead.

The undead behind the door were relentless and Daryl's shoes slid across the floor before he repositioned himself, biceps straining as he gritted his teeth against the pressure one last moment before leaping back and letting the walkers stumble in.

He had to take care of them before he could help his friend.

He snatched his crossbow up and sent a bolt through the skull of the walker up front, dropping the weapon and pulling his knife as he didn't have time to reload it before he launched himself at the next geek in line.

"Shoot him! We can take back this prison." Daryl heard Andrew yell just as he finished the last walker that was an immediate threat, turning to rush back into the room before slowing at the sight of Oscar with a gun pointed at Rick.

"What you waiting for?" Andrew asked his former companion and Daryl quietly stalked forward, his knife at the ready to end Oscar's life if he shot his friend.

"Do it! It's our house. Shoot him!" Andrew demanded and a shot rang out through the small space.

The hunter's muscles tensed, ready to leap forward as he expected it to be Rick falling to the ground but instead it was Andrew, the sight making the man pause though he remained ready to spring.

Oscar stood stiff, flipping the gun over in his hand and offering it out to Rick by the barrel so he could grab the handle without a threat.

Rick took the weapon with a nod before moving towards the generators once more, flipping two large switches that caused the machines to power down.

"Let's go." He said and Daryl didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

"Mom?" Carl called out as he kneeled at his mother's side while Maggie and Amity helped the woman lay down on the concrete floor.

"Mom, look at me! Look at me. Keep your eyes open." The boy insisted.

"We have to get you back to Daddy." Maggie said, her eyes full of worry.

"I'm not gonna make it." Lori said and Amity's chest clenched painfully at her words, they were too close to what could be the truth of the situation in the end, even if it wasn't what she meant.

"Lori, with all this blood I don't even think you're fully dilated yet." Maggie told the woman. "No amount of pushing is gonna help."

"I know what it means, and I'm not losing my baby." Lori said simply, sounding ridiculously even-headed over the situation. "You've gotta cut me open."

"No." Maggie said immediately, shaking her head. "I can't."

"You don't have a choice." Lori insisted.

"I'll go for help." Amity suggested, rising to her feet but Lori's hand on her arm stopped her.

"No!" She told her, not wanting anyone risking their lives to roam through the prison tombs alone.

"Look, Carol is the one that practiced that. Dad only taught me the steps, Lori. If I-" Maggie rambled until Lori cut her off.

"Please." She begged the young woman before turning her eyes to Amity. " _Please_."

"We have no anesthetic, no equipment-" Amity began.

"Carl has a knife." Lori cut her off.

"You won't survive." Maggie protested.

"My baby has to survive. Please. My baby for all of us." Lori begged.

"Please, Maggie! Please! _Please_." She cried and finally Amity nodded, catching the attention of everyone.

At the sight Lori smiled slightly, looking relieved.

"You see my old C-section scar?" Lori asked her, pulling her shirt up to reveal the mark and the redhead nodded.

"You can't." Maggie insisted, reaching out to stop Amity's movements with a hand on her wrist.

"You can. You have to." Lori interjected.

"I-I've only fully dissected animals before, Lori. In undergrad. I've dissected many brains since then... but this isn't a brain." The redhead informed her.

Amity knew that all the same she had more experience cutting through flesh and making delicate precisions than the younger woman at her side. She knew that she had to do it while Maggie directed the more technical medical things dealing with the bleeding and such.

Lori nodded as Amity spoke, not seeming at all concerned with her words before she turned to Carl, reaching out and grasping his arm.

"Carl? Baby, I don't want you to be scared, okay?" The mother said and Amity's eyes watered at the interaction, her heart breaking for her friend who was so willing to die for her child, for both of them, and for Carl who was watching his mother give up her life for his sibling's.

"This is what I want. This is right. Now you- you take care of your daddy for me, all right? And your little brother or sister, you take care-" She told him before he cut through her words, voice trembling.

"You don't have to do this." He pleaded.

"You're gonna be fine. You are gonna beat this world. I know you will." Lori reassured him. "You are smart, and you are strong, and you are _so_ brave, and I love you."

"I love you too." Carl whimpered.

"You gotta do what's right, baby." Lori whispered. "You promise me, you'll always do what's right. It's so easy to do the wrong thing in this world. So don't- so if it feels wrong, don't do it, alright? If it feels easy don't do it. Don't let the world spoil you." She croaked, her hand raising to the young boy's face to wipe away the tears streaming down his cheeks. "You're so good. You're my sweet boy. The best thing I ever did." She pulled him down into her embrace, holding him as both the mother and son cried, the sound of their pain having Amity clutch Maggie's hand a little tighter, the women having sought out one another for support.

"I love you. I love you. You're my sweet, sweet boy. I love you." Lori lamented, before pressing a final kiss into her son's hair and moving him back away from her. "Okay- okay, now." She soothed before looking at Maggie and Amity.

"Maggie, Amity, when this is over, one of you have to-" Lori began but Maggie cut her off, shushing her as she was still not willing to accept that the woman might not make it. "- _one of you_ have to do it." Lori continued despite the protests. "It can't be Rick."

"Alright." Lori breathed out, her hand still resting against her son as he passed his knife into Amity's awaiting hand. "It's alright. It's alright."

The redhead had bile rising in her throat because of what she knew she was about to have to do. She would have given anything to not do it, to have Hershel find them and save Lori, but she couldn't do her friend the disservice of letting her baby die when she had fought so hard for it and when there was still the risk she would die herself as well anyways.

She respected Lori too much as a person, as someone who tried until the very end, to not do as she pleaded.

She just hoped that in the end Rick, and God, would forgive her.

"Goodnight, love." Lori whispered and Amity knew that it was time.

"I'm sorry, Lori." She told the woman, carefully sliding the knife through her skin, following the line of the old scar as screams escaped Lori's throat.

"What are you doing to her?" Carl sobbed, but Amity ignored him, knowing that the panic was just overtaking him.

She was thankful for the moment Lori passed out from pain, it was terrifying and heart-wrenching to see her that way, but she wanted her to suffer as less as possible.

"Maggie, give me your hands." Amity told the other woman who was sobbing next to her.

"Maggie, please." She insisted and Maggie sat forward, trembling hands moving where Amity placed them. "You have to keep the site clean for me, okay? If I can't see and I cut too deep, I'm gonna cut the baby."

Amity continued to make incisions, navigating the unfamiliar terrain that was the inside of a human's abdomen until she finally located what she needed to and carefully made a shallow and precise cut.

"Okay, come on I see it. I see the ears." Amity informed the two conscious people at her side. "I'm gonna pull it out, but I can't tell if this is the arm or the leg." She said, the mass amount of blood and other fluids making the whole situation a blundering mess.

"I'm going to pull the baby out." She repeated, more for her own sake than the others' as she moved to do so.

She lifted the small body from its mother and terror gripped her as it didn't respond.

Maggie reached out to take the infant from her hands and turned it over in her arms to gently rub and pat its back until a cry finally split the air. Amity and Carl let out a collective breath before the younger boy was quickly stripping his vest from his body and handing it over for his new sibling, his new sister, to be wrapped up in.

"Okay, we have to go." Maggie told them, moving to rise quickly to her feet but Amity hesitated by the body, checking for a pulse and finding none.

Carl hesitated as well, but he had rose to stop Maggie.

"We can't just leave her here." He told the woman. "She'll turn."

Maggie looked at him for a long moment before she went to pull her gun, but Carl held out a hand her way to stop her then drew his own.

"No, Carl-" Maggie told the young boy.

"I can do it." Amity called softly from behind him. "You don't have to-"

"She's my mom." Carl retorted, cutting her off and leaving no room for any argument.

His words weighed heavily on Amity's heart as she rose to her feet, analyzing the look on his face.

She didn't want him to have to do this.

No one should have to do something like this, but this was a new kind of world that Carl seemed to understand more than any of them did, which was worrying in a way. Being raised in this hellscape had made him hard, but not cold, and Amity hoped that she would never see him lose the fire that made him so much like his father- strong, brave, but most importantly- _caring_.

Amity joined Maggie, both of them climbing the stairs towards the entrance as they left Carl to do what Amity hoped would be the hardest thing he would ever have to deal with as she couldn't imagine something more hellish for them laying in the future.

The redhead peeked out into the corridor, keeping Maggie and the baby behind her with an outstretched arm as she checked to see if they were clear. Upon spotting some walkers, Amity ducked back into the room, pulling the door closed and turning to look at Maggie just as a gunshot rang out though the room making them both flinch slightly.

Carl appeared a moment later, brushing by them without making eye contact and Amity understood why.

He had just done the unthinkable, he didn't need to look at Maggie with the baby in her arms that his mother died for nor at Amity who was covered in his mother's blood after killing her.

* * *

Daryl stuck close to Rick's side as they methodically made their way though the prison in search of their loved ones.

With every passing second the man felt like he was getting more and more wound up, more volatile and ready to explode.

A scuffling sound reached the hunter's trained ears and he held up a hand to halt his two companions just as Glenn rounded the corner, stepping into Daryl's flashlight's beam with Axel and Michael following only a step behind him.

The two groups exchanged looks and saw that they were still at their original numbers, both of them deflating a bit at the sight.

They couldn't stop though. They couldn't just quit looking.

Daryl would find each member of the group if it took him weeks on end.

This wasn't going to be the case of another Sophia, this time he refused to fail.

The next time they all rounded a corner, they were met with a pair of walkers hunched over a fresh corpse. Daryl felt like he was free-falling as they approached the body, Rick taking care of the walkers with a couple of shots.

They discovered that it was T-Dog, the man made barely recognizable by the monsters that had ended his life.

The death hurt. It was a blow to the group that had them taking a moment to gather themselves though they had already known that the man had been bit.

Daryl's blue eyes dropped to the ground and it was then that he noticed a familiar scarf that had his chest clenching painfully.

Leaning down, he snatched up the scarf that Carol had been wearing to cover her hair and held it out in front of him so the other's could see it. He watched Michael with careful eyes, seeing the anguish that swept through him as the large man stumbled back a step, his hand going out to steady himself against the wall behind him.

Michael closed his eyes in the same way that Daryl had seen Amity do so many times when overwhelmed and while they were closed he looked at the cloth in his hand for a long moment.

They weren't done looking.

As Rick got the group moving again, Daryl fell back from his friend's side to settle next to Michael, holding out the scarf to the man.

The pair looked at one another for a long moment, broken blue eyes that were nearly identical to the ones Daryl was so fond of locked with the steady gaze of the hunter until Daryl was gesturing down the corridor with a flick of his chin and Michael was nodding in response.

The small group of men returned back to the concrete yard, rushing out the door to where they had left Beth and Hershel.

"Hershel!" Rick called out as they jogged towards the older man and his daughter.

"You didn't find them?" Hershel asked.

"We thought maybe they came back out here." Glenn explained, looking around the yard as if their missing group members were going to jump out of hiding somewhere and yell 'surprise.'

"What about T? Carol?" Hershel questioned.

"They didn't make it." Daryl said simply, trying to keep his voice as even as possible.

"That doesn't mean the others didn't." Rick insisted, trying to keep their moral high as well as their motivation. "We're going back. Daryl and Glenn, you come with-"

The man was cut off by the soft cry of an infant that had everyone turning around.

Amity was pushing open the gate leading to the stairs and the cellblock, Maggie and Carl just behind her.

It wasn't until the redhead moved to the side that their eyes fell on what was in Maggie's arms- a baby.

The men were frozen into place, Daryl finally gaining his head after a few seconds and looking to Amity with a flood of relief sweeping through his body though he couldn't place whether the woman was hurt or not since she was covered in blood.

He wanted her gaze on his, for those cornflower blue irises to be holding his own and making him keep his head on straight, but the woman's eyes were trained on the concrete beneath her boots.

Maggie came forward slowly, her lips trembling as she tried to speak to Rick as he moved closer. The man dropped the axe he had been holding, his hands trembling as he realized that something, the worst thing he could imagine, had happened.

"Where- where is she?" He croaked and Maggie let out a soft sob in response. "Where is she?"

Rick was moving now, pushing past Maggie and heading towards the stairs until Amity stepped in his path.

"No." The woman said gently, her voice thick with unshed tears but steady as she looked up at the man whose wife she had killed.

"Rick, no!" She asserted and then the man was stumbling back from her touch, a lone tear escaping her to fall down her cheek as he did so.

"Oh, no." The man sobbed, looking at his son who refused to look at him.

"No! No! No!" He wailed, grief overtaking him as it did Amity, her body wracking with sobs until strong arms were wrapping around her.

She stood stiff in her brother's embrace, sobbing as she watched Rick fall to the ground in anguish. She couldn't move, she couldn't do anything but stand there and cry, even breathing wasn't coming easy to her.

Amity felt Michael's body tremble against hers and it was only then that she finally wrapped her arms around the older man, blood smearing across his dirty white t-shirt but neither sibling cared.

"Rick, you with me?" Daryl called out, kneeling in front of his friend who was looking dazed.

He had first started towards Amity, wanting to make sure that the woman was as fine physically as she seemed, but her brother had beat him to it. He had watched her stiffen under his touch, tears streaming down her cheeks though that was the only emotion she betrayed.

He ached to take her into his arms, to see that she was still there and with him, but as Michael seemed to break down as well, holding the woman almost more for his comfort that her own, Daryl let them be.

"Rick?" He asked the man again and upon getting no response, he rose to his feet.

"Let me see the baby." Hershel called out as his oldest daughter passed the baby to Carl.

Daryl crossed the concrete towards the old man just as the Walker siblings broke apart. Michael straightened up as if he had never lost his hold on himself in the first place and Amity seemed to be refocused on the situation at hand now rather than the aching in her own chest.

"What are we gonna feed it?" Daryl asked, stopping at the former vet's side as Amity passed Glenn and Maggie, coming to a stop on the other side of Carl.

"We got anything a baby can eat?" The hunter questioned.

"The good news is she looks healthy." Hershel informed them all. "But she needs formula and soon, or she won't survive."

"No." Daryl stated simply, hooking his crossbow over his back. "No way. Not her. We ain't losing nobody else. I'm going for a run."

"I'm with you." Amity spoke up for the first time aside from stopping Rick.

Daryl found himself freezing at the sound of her voice as he looked to her, finding her gaze directly on his. His heart rate doubled in that moment and he nearly protested but the look on her face stopped him.

"I'll back you up." Maggie chimed in.

"I'll go too." Glenn added.

"Okay, think where we're going." Daryl directed before gesturing the youngest Greene off to the side with a gentle call of her name.

Amity had turned her gaze to the father that was still kneeling on the concrete behind them. She could read the shock that had taken ahold of his body in response to the sudden news of losing his wife.

He was a broken man, that didn't mean he couldn't heal, but it did mean that he needed time.

"You two get the fence. Too many pile up and we got ourselves a problem." Daryl called out to the former inmates, taking charge of the situation.

"Glenn, Maggie, Amity, _vamonos_!" He insisted but Amity was already moving in the opposite direction, seeing Rick's plan just as the man had begun to move.

"Rick!" She called out, but the man didn't stop. He took the axe that he had recollected from the ground and headed back into the cellblock.

Amity stood watching the door that he had went through, debating whether or not she should follow him when Daryl's voice cut through her mind.

"Get the gate." He told someone and Amity finally turned.

"Come on, we're gonna lose the light!" Daryl yelled as he headed towards the fence.

Amity picked up the pace, jogging after the man and quickly making it to his side just before Glenn and Maggie did.

Daryl turned his eyes to the redhead, their shoulders brushing as they jogged close to one another and that touch alone had both of their nerves soothing a bit.

Amity reached out for him, her hand ghosting over the back of his and the man wasted no time in briefly closing his hand around hers, giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance then letting it fall from his grasp as Glenn spoke up.

"There's a Piggly Wiggly on 85." He informed them but Maggie shook her head.

"No, the baby section's been cleared." She disclosed. "Lori asked me to keep an eye out. I haven't had much luck."

"Is there any place that hasn't been completely looted?" Daryl questioned the pair as they all reached the car, Amity already moving around the front of it to get into the passenger seat.

"We saw signs for a shopping center just north of here." Glenn offered up.

"Yeah, but there's too much debris on the road. The car will never get through there." Maggie told them.

Amity bounced on the balls of her feet, knowing what was coming next.

"I can take one of you." The hunter said, referring to the space he would have left on his bike.

"I'll go." Amity said immediately, Maggie's voice overlapping her's as she did so.

"No, Amity. Not after... not after everything." Maggie told the woman, making the two men at their side realize that Amity had been the one to do the procedure.

Glenn exchanged a look with Daryl, his eyes holding a deep sadness before the younger man watched his girlfriend and friend once more.

"No." Amity asserted, shaking her head at the woman. "I want to go- _need_ to go. For Lori, I have to."

The two women held each other's gaze for a long moment until Maggie finally gave a small nod and Daryl rounded the vehicle, his hand brushing against the small of Amity's back as he guided her towards where his motorcycle sat.

Amity hooked the book bag that she had grabbed out of the car over her shoulders just before climbing on behind the man who already had the bike roaring to life. She tightened her arms around his waist, resting her forehead against the fabric of the poncho that he had slipped on before giving his torso a small squeeze to let him know to go.

The engine revved and the bike moved forward to leave the prison behind them.


	16. Chapter 16

The roar of the motorcycle beneath her did well to drown out Amity's thoughts while sitting with her arms wrapped around the man driving served to fend off the overwhelming grief that threatened her.

She was glad then more than ever that she had come along with Daryl.

She needed the time to steady herself. She couldn't afford to be weak.

The look on Rick's face before he took off into the cell block let her know that he would be needing their support, and their ability to take care of themselves so he could recover, while the way that her brother didn't speak a word out about her leaving showed her that the situation, losing Carol, had hit him harder than the man himself had accounted for.

She would take care of them when she got back- she owed that much to both men.

Her eyes scanned the roadside as they roared down the asphalt and when they passed a sign reading, "Bright Eyes Childcare," she didn't hesitate to smack the man's arm, pointing at the sign.

Daryl gave a nod in front of her to let her know they were on the same page and took the next turn as the sign had directed.

Pulling up in front of the daycare, Amity felt uneasy at the sight of the abandoned playground and now rundown building.

Scavenging always felt like they were walking amongst ghosts.

"Company's close." Daryl told her as he shut off the engine of the bike, letting her climb off before he did the same.

"Stay tight." He directed and she nodded absent-mindedly before moving to walk towards the building, only being stopped by a hand wrapping around her slender wrist.

She turned back to look at the man, meeting his eyes and reading the concern and question in them that made her press her lips together in a thin line, the emotion that she had been fighting against threatening to overwhelm her again.

It was tempting to simply fall into his strong arms and let him hold her as she sobbed against his chest and got out everything that she had been feeling, but she knew it wouldn't change anything. Lori would still be gone, T-Dog and Carol would still be gone, and the baby relying on them back at the prison would still be hungry.

Daryl was relying on her too in a way. She could see that in his body language, the way he leaned towards her as he scanned her face, waiting for a sign that she was still there with him, that she wasn't going to shut him out or leave. He was dealing with loss too and she wouldn't ignore that.

"I'm okay." She reassured the man, stepping forward and into the embrace that he offered a little shyly, as if she would reject the offer.

She rested her forehead against his collarbone, breathing in the sweaty scent he carried on his skin that was a mix of the forest and a very masculine musk that nearly had her scrunching her nose up in response. She knew that she couldn't be fairing any better in the smell department though.

"Ya don't gotta be." Daryl muttered against her hair and Amity shook her head, taking a small step back to look up at him while still in his grasp.

"You and I both know that's not true." She countered, giving him the best smile that she could muster in that moment before leaning up and pressing her lips to his.

She lingered there for a moment longer than she had intended, the emotion that she poured into the affection and received in return taking both of them by surprise.

"Cover me." Amity whispered against his lips as she pulled away, turning to head towards the building.

"I got ya, girl." Daryl said softly in response, watching her for a long moment before turning blue eyes to the landscape around them.

Amity used the butt of the gun that she had gotten off of Glenn to knock out one of the windows to the daycare after checking the heavy door and finding it locked.

The crashing sound of glass breaking wasn't as nearly terrible sounding to her ears as it had been nearly a year ago at that point.

A year- it felt more like a couple of lifetimes since everything went to hell.

Climbing through the broken window, Amity took care to not cut herself on the glass or rip her bag open. Once on her feet the redhead headed straight for the cabinets lining the walls, not allowing herself to dwell on the small paper handprints that covered one wall and bore the names of mostly dead children nor the abandoned cribs that sat in the corner.

Kneeling down, the woman snagged a couple of packaged bottles from the cabinet and shoved them into her bag along with quite a few diapers and a pack of pacifiers. She shifted through the cabinets and found a couple of rolled up onesies as well to add to her lot.

A sound behind her had her head whipping around, pausing only when she realized Daryl had joined her and was now looking at the wall she had been avoiding.

"Did you ever want children?" Amity asked as she stood, looking at her companion who was staring at her with something curious behind his eyes. The woman knew that he had never been married, that he hadn't had a fiancée or a steady girlfriend at the time of the outbreak- that was something they had talked about in passing before, but never something like this.

"I've never thought about it." He admitted, reaching up to muss his own hair as he spoke.

Amity nodded at that, deciding it was fair enough of a response and began to head for the hallway.

"Did ya?" He asked from behind her, making her pause.

She looked to him, watching as he eyed her before she shook her head.

"No, I can't have kids." She confessed and she waited for the pity to seep into his gaze... but none came.

"Did ya want 'em?" He asked and Amity considered that, one of her feet scuffing against the dirty floor as her eyes dropped from his.

"I guess I did." She admitted and he nodded once, slowly.

"What happened?" He wondered and she shook her head, nearly cutting him off before he had finished his question. It was one she had heard many times before.

"Nothing at all. A birth defect rendered my fallopian tubes pretty much useless." She explained with a shrug. "I only found out when I was around 22 and just finished my undergrad."

Daryl watched her for a moment before nodding to the doorway she was standing in.

"Let's keep movin'." He suggested and Amity nodded, a small sad smile gracing her lips.

Not treating her like she was broken, or like something was even wrong, was one of the best things Daryl had done for her to date.

The pair moved quietly down the hall, Daryl turning on his flashlight as they wandered into an area with less windows to let in light.

A quiet scuffling from a room up ahead had the pair on edge, Amity holding out her gun as she waited by Daryl's side, the man directing her with his eyes until they were moving into a kitchen area, weapons drawn.

They pin-pointed the noise to be coming from the pantry and the redhead moved to the other side of the pantry's door, waiting for Daryl's signal before yanking it open to reveal a possum that Daryl shot an arrow through immediately.

"Hello, dinner." The man said and Amity looked at the creature with a sigh.

"I'm not putting that in my bag." She informed him simply, moving across the room to the cabinets to leave him to deal with the creature.

She opened the first set and smiled at the sight of two large cans of formula.

"Thank the Gods." She whispered to herself, stuffing them into her bag along with some random jars of baby food she had uncovered.

She took a few of the bibs and burp rags laying about and considered one of the high chairs before remembering that they had come on the motorcycle instead of in a car.

"Come on, Robin Hood. We're done here." Amity said as she searched the last cabinet, turning to follow the hunter back down the hall the way they came.

By the time the prison was in their sights, night had fallen.

Riding the bike in the dark was a tension-ridden experience as walkers stumbled randomly into the road, attracted by the noise of the engine, but not once did Daryl falter as he simply curved around them and continued on the way back to their camp.

As they approached the gates, Amity heard a couple of gunshots over the engine and watched two walkers fall on either side of them as the gate was pulled open and she let out a small breath of relief.

They were back, hopefully in plenty of time.

The pair wasted no time in rushing into the cellblock, Amity taking the bag straight to one of the tables, motioning over Beth and Maggie while Daryl went for the baby whose cries they had heard as soon as they came in the door.

"How's she doing?" Amity heard Daryl ask as she quickly unpackaged one of the bottles, squeezing the nipple of it to make sure the opening was the right size for a newborn before quickly getting to mixing the warm water they had waiting with the formula she had found.

"Shh." Daryl gently shushed the newborn, rocking her in his arms as he tried to calm her. It worked a bit as her cries settled down, but her whimpers made it clear that she was still famished. "I'm sorry. Shhh."

Amity was moving to his side then, holding out the bottle to him and as she did, she couldn't hold back a small smile at the rough man cradling the baby so gently and so naturally in his arms.

He took the bottle from the redhead, gently coaxing the baby girl into latching onto the bottle and finally getting some food in that tiny tummy of hers.

Daryl smiled once she took it, falling quiet as she fed, and looked around the group with a bit of pride in his expression. He met Amity's eyes and his gaze softened a bit, his grin slightly more crooked as she beamed back at him.

The group watched the moment fondly, a peaceful silence settling over them all before Daryl turned to Carl and broke it.

"She got a name yet?" He asked the boy.

"Not yet." Carl admitted, hesitating. "But I was thinking maybe Sophia... then there's Carol, too."

It was a reminder of those they had lost, but it was a reminder of the love they had for those as well as he continued.

"And Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or Lori." He listed, turning away from the hunter as he obviously felt a bit overwhelmed and unsure of his choices of names. "I don't know."

Daryl and Amity both watched the boy for a moment, Daryl looking like he was considering something before he redirected his attention to the infant held in his arms.

"Ya like that?" He asked her, voice more gentle than anyone had heard it before. "Huh? Little ass-kicker." He suggested, smiling widely as he looked around the group.

Laughter escaped those surrounding him, Amity leaning lightly against his arm for a moment as she chuckled.

"Right? That's a good name, right?" He asked everyone before looking back down at the baby.

"Little ass-kicker." He crooned. "Ya like that, huh? Ya like that, sweetheart?"

* * *

As the sun rose, Michael realized that he had never found sleep that night with his eyes glued to the underside of the mattress above him, the pain in his chest keeping him adjusting every few moments.

The hurt felt physical. It felt tangible and so real that he wondered if he needed to discuss it with Hershel before deciding that he was not the kind of doctor that could treat heartbreak.

That's what it would have been called, but it felt different.

The man felt like his heart had been ripped clean out of his chest, not broken, and it left him behind a bit emptier than before.

As relieved as he had been to see his sister walking out of the cellblock alive, the absence of Carol in the prison around him tore at him more than he had ever thought it would.

He had become ridiculously fond of the woman from the moment she offered to take him inside of the large farmhouse and get him something to eat. She had a kind soul, a hidden ferocity that no one would expect from her, but he had recognized that fire in a heartbeat.

The pair had shared stories late in the evenings when they both found themselves awake, bearing bits of their souls piece-by-piece as they began to realize that trusting one another may not have been as scary as it first seemed.

After shared stories had come shared kisses, shared smiles, and shared happiness. They had found a bit of solace in one another's presence that the man hadn't thought possible in this new world.

Michael Walker had never been a man who considered settling down in any sense of the word, but he found over the winter that he couldn't imagine himself looking at anyone else the way he did at Carol.

When the slight woman grasped his hand, he felt his heart race in his chest.

When he saw fear in her eyes, he suddenly decided he could take on the world to relieve that emotion from her.

Then she was gone and he couldn't do a damn thing to change it.

Rising from his bed, Michael made quick work of leaving the cellblock and heading out over the field in the front of the prison towards where a bodiless grave had been dug for Carol next to the ones for T-Dog and Lori.

As he approached, he found that someone else was already there.

Michael stopped short as he waited for the familiar figure to rise, the hunter turning towards him and not looking surprised at his presence- he must have realized he was there who knew how long ago.

As he passed him, the former rancher was surprised at the hand that grasped his shoulder.

Daryl didn't look at him as he paused at his side, simply stood still for a moment, lending a bit of stoic comfort to the man that had felt so strongly for his friend before he was heading back towards the prison.

The eldest Walker didn't move for a minute after the other man had left.

He kept his eyes trained on the grave a few feet in front of him, taking in the wooden cross and the flower that now rested on the surface of the freshly placed dirt.

* * *

Amity rose moments after she heard her brother leave his cell and then the cell block.

She knew that Carol's death was hitting him the hardest out of everyone and she had a hunch that the two were closer than either of them had ever let on. Her heart went out for her sibling and she decided she would try to talk to him later that evening or perhaps the next day. He needed time to grieve and she would give him that.

Leaving her cell as she slipped on a flannel over top of a black tank top, Amity noticed that Daryl's perch was empty as well.

She crept down the stairs, careful not to wake anyone as she made her way to the kitchen of the prison- something she knew both men who were missing would be angry she did alone.

Quickly, Amity used the kitchen to whip up a simple breakfast for everyone. She made a large pot of oatmeal, using a few of the spices found in the large pantry to make it less ridiculously bland than it surely would have been without it.

Once it was properly heated by the fire she had lit in one of the large sinks before bracing a stove grate over it and setting the pot on top, Amity carefully took the pot by its handles and made her way back to the cellblock just as Maggie was descending the stairs with Glenn at her side.

"Where'd you go?" Glenn asked her as she sat the pot on one of the tables.

"Kitchen." Amity answered shortly, looking to Maggie.

"Mags, will you grab all the bowls and utensils we got stocked up in here?" She asked the younger woman who nodded in return, moving off to do so.

"You shouldn't have gone by yourself. You could have woken one of us up, or Michael, or Daryl- or even Axel or Oscar." Glenn listed off, scolding the redhead a bit before she gave him a flat look.

"I'm just saying, Amity and you know I'm right." The young man said, backtracking a bit under her gaze.

"I was fine, Glenn. I didn't need help obviously." She insisted, taking a spoon from Maggie once she returned with the eating ware and began to shovel some of the oatmeal into a bowl.

"Didn't need help with what?" A familiar rough voice asked from the door leading out of the cellblock.

Amity didn't even bother looking up as she held out a bowl in the man's direction.

"Making breakfast." She chirped simply and Glenn scoffed as Daryl took the bowl from the redhead.

"Ya make it in here?" He asked her, sniffing the mush in the bowl before taking a bite of it and making a small pleased noise.

"She went to the kitchen- _alone_ " Glenn tattled and Amity glared at him.

"That part of the prison is cleared." She reasoned and Daryl shook his head.

"We don't know that anymore." Maggie cut in and Amity looked at her with betrayal clear in her eyes.

"And here I thought we were friends, Greene." She gasped and Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Don't be so dramatic." She told her friend before taking the next bowl Amity held out.

"Don't start bein' stupid, girl. There's enough to kill ya without ya going lookin' for it." Daryl chided, shoveling another spoonful of his breakfast into his mouth.

"Oh, shut up and eat your damn oatmeal." Amity snapped moodily, shoving the next bowl into Glenn's hands as the rest of their group began to stream into the space.

After a while they were all settled and eating the unusually tasteful and filling breakfast that Amity had decided to make.

The majority of their group sat at one of the tables while Amity rested a step below Daryl on the staircase, sitting between his legs and using one of his knees to rest her bowl on as she ate while Michael leaned against the railing of the stairs.

The man had joined them only a few moments before, coming inside with dirt stained on the knees of his jeans.

Oscar hovered on the edges of the group, watching everything but still clearly feeling a bit like an outsider in the tight-knit group.

"Everybody okay?" A familiar voice asked from the doorway leading to the rest of the prison before Rick appeared through it.

"Yeah, we are." Maggie answered, her voice a bit cautious as they all watched the man.

"What about you?" Hershel asked him, voicing the question that had been sitting on the tip of every single one of their tongues.

"I cleared out the boiler block." Rick revealed and Amity shifted where she sat.

"How many were there?" Daryl asked.

"I don't know." Rick admitted. "A dozen, two dozen. I have to get back. I just wanted to check on Carl." He explained, patting the shoulder of his son and ignoring his newborn that he had yet spared a glance.

It hurt Amity's heart as she read the underlying emotion of the man, everyone in the room picking up on it but she could see it all so plainly that she nearly went to rise to her feet as Glenn did.

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies." The man began. "You don't have to."

"No, I do." Rick insisted before crossing the room to Daryl and Amity, the redhead looking up and watching the man closely as she leaned against the hunter's leg.

"Everyone have a gun and a knife?" The former sheriff asked and Daryl stared him down a brief second before answering.

"Yeah. We're running low on ammo, though." Daryl informed him.

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon." Glenn cut in. "We were going to see if Amity wanted to join?" He added, looking to the redhead who immediately nodded, ignoring the way Daryl knocked his knee lightly against her.

"Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula." Glenn continued after he got confirmation from Amity, trying to ignore the two hard looks that were directed his way from Daryl and Michael.

"We cleared out the generator room." Daryl said suddenly, regaining Rick's attention from the younger man across the room. "Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well."

"Good, good." Rick told him, turning and heading swiftly for the door that would lead him back to the cellblock.

"Rick!" Hershel called after him, but the man didn't stop.

A silence settled over the group and Amity looked at the bowl in her hands for a long moment before letting out a noisy breath.

"I'll try to talk to him once we get back from that run." She told everyone, receiving a few nods in response.

It used to be her job to help people get through hard times in their lives and though everything had changed, she hoped that she would still be able to offer Rick some help and that the man would take it.

"I'll talk to him first." Hershel interjected and Amity nodded almost immediately.

Hershel and Rick understood one another for the most part and the older man was wise even beyond his years. She had no qualms about him trying to get through to Rick before her.

"'Bout the run, Bug-" Michael began from beside her but Amity cut him off.

"Don't, I'm going. I'm a big girl, Mikey." Amity said flatly, looking over to her brother and meeting his eyes.

"That don't matter a damn bit." He responded, frowning and with that, Amity rose to her feet.

She crossed the room, quickly beginning to stack the used bowls before dumping them into the now empty pot and heading towards the door that led to the rest of the prison.

At the last second she decided to heed a bit of her friends' advice from earlier and glanced over her shoulder towards Oscar.

"Hey, O, will you come help me?" She asked and the tall man immediately pushed off from where he was standing, casting a bit of a nervous look towards Daryl but didn't hesitate to walk through the door with her, closing it shut behind them.

* * *

Gravel crunched under their boots as Glenn, Maggie, Amity, and Daryl made their way across the drive towards the Suburban that was now parked on the gravel facing the fence.

Amity pulled open the back door of the vehicle, tossing her empty back bag in followed by her bow before turning back around and nearly running smack into Daryl who was hovering behind her.

Glenn and Maggie had already climbed into the vehicle and were now just waiting for her.

"I'll be back in a few hours." Amity told the man, slowly reaching up to gently cup the line of his jaw in her hand, her thumb resting across his cheek as their eyes met.

"Don't be stupid 'bout nothin'." Daryl warned her, his voice low as he spoke. "Keep yer weapon up and watch yer ass. I'm not there to watch it for ya."

"Is this your way of telling me you always stare at my butt?" Amity asked, a teasing smirk playing across her lips as he looked down at her with little amusement. "Because I know you do, Chief."

"Get in the damn car." Daryl snapped, his voice holding no heat as he spared a glance towards the two in the front of the car before leaning down to quickly press a kiss to Amity's lips that left her wanting for more.

"I'll see you around, Cowboy." Amity told him after he took a step back, the woman moving to get into the car as she cast a last smile over his way.

"Ya better." Daryl muttered to himself as Amity closed the door, the car immediately beginning to roll down the drive as his blue eyes followed its exit until it passed the gate and he turned to go back inside, hunting down Carl, Oscar, and Michael to clear the lower levels of the prison like he planned.

* * *

"So... you and Daryl, huh?" Maggie spoke up as they climbed out of the suburban in front of a storefront, making Amity look away from her bow that she was adjusting in her hand and towards the younger woman.

"What?" She asked dumbly.

"Don't give me that, Walker. We were right there." Maggie said, a shit-eating grin in place on her lips.

"I'm aware." Amity said with little amusement which just seemed to pull a laugh out of Glenn.

"We all figured it was a thing, we just never knew to what degree. Now we do." Maggie informed her and Amity grumpily turned back to her bow, muttering about nosey people and the lack of privacy.

"Is he always that... uh, standoffish then? Even with you?" Glenn asked and Amity leaned forward to lightly punch the younger man's arm, making him let out a whine of complaint.

"He's not, not that it's any of either of your's business." Amity informed them, glaring their way before heading off towards the store, leaving the pair chuckling in her wake until she had to stop at the doors so that Glenn could cut off the chains that held them shut.

She moved a couple of steps back to stand with Maggie, her bow held at the ready as Glenn yanked open the doors and sent a group of birds flying out, the trio nearly jumping out of their skin in fright.

"Holy shit." Amity muttered to herself, one hand going to her heart as she tried to slow it back down to a safer level.

"I've never liked birds." Glenn mumbled and Amity couldn't help but laugh at that, following him into the store while Maggie kept watch outside.

"Glenn, get that duck." Maggie called out from behind them, shining her flashlight on a stuffed duck.

"What?" Glenn asked, sounding amused.

"Get that duck." Maggie insisted and Amity chuckled to herself, moving on through the store as they went back and forth.

"Are you serious?" Glenn questioned her, laughing a bit.

"Yeah." Maggie confirmed. "A kid growing up in a prison could use some toys."

Amity wandered down one of the aisles, calling softly out to Glenn once she located the baby things and felt relief wash through her as she spotted a whole shelf of powdered baby formula.

Glenn popped up next to her with a couple of baskets, whispering a 'good job' to her over her find before handing off one of the baskets and taking the other to continue to search the store.

Amity loaded up her book bag with the formula, stuffing it to the brim before adding the last couple of cans that wouldn't fit into the basket. She also added a few more random baby items like blankets and another toy she found before meeting with Glenn in the center of the store, both of them heading out to the front door where Maggie waited for them.

"Amity just hit the powdered formula jackpot." Glenn called out as they left the store, Maggie beaming at them as they appeared.

"Oh, thank God." The woman said, taking one of the baskets from Amity as she was hauling her bookbag as well.

"I also got beans, batteries, cocktail wieners, a whole lot of mustards. It's a straight shot back to the prison from here." Glenn said, sounding relieved that the trip had gone so well.

"We'll probably make it in time for dinner." Amity added happily.

She knew the less time that it would take them to get back, the less time she would have to spend listening to Michael lament about her not going out again without him and Daryl possibly doing the same depending on his mood.

"I like the quiet." Maggie told the pair as they began to load their things into the car, Maggie still holding one of the baskets. "Back there, back home, you can always hear them outside the fence no matter where you are."

Amity nodded and went to agree with the younger woman when a voice cut her off, sending her spinning on her heel as she raised her bow in response to the stranger stalking towards them.

"And where is it y'all good people are calling home?" The rough looking man asked, his own gun trained on the trio.

The man had blood splattered across his face and dirty tank top and what looked like a knife attached to his arm where his hand should have been. Amity wasn't sure what happened to the man, but she knew it wasn't pleasant.

"Merle?" Glenn asked, the name shocking Amity as it left him but her aim never wavered.

The man laughed in response to Glenn's words, leaning to put his gun on the pavement which confused the redhead. Old acquaintance or no- she couldn't imagine lying down her weapon when there were three pointed at her.

"Wow!" The man, Merle, gasped out, looking stunned.

"Hey, back the hell up!" Maggie snapped at him, obviously not willing to exchange pleasantries as he came closer to them.

"Okay, okay, honey." Merle laughed out. "Jesus."

Amity's head was spinning- if this was _The_ Merle, as in Merle _Dixon_ , then the entire narrative had changed.

Her mind immediately went to Daryl, to how happy he would be that his brother was alive and nearby. She didn't know much about Merle Dixon other than the fact that he had been left behind and was Daryl's brother- but looking at him then, she felt something in her gut that had her thinking back to Shane's defense of him getting left behind.

 _"His brother was an asshole- a danger to the group and himself."_

Amity wondered if he was still going to be a danger to them.

"You made it." Glenn stated simply.

"Can ya tell me, is my brother alive? Huh?" Merle asked, looking at Glenn with a bit of intensity that he hadn't held before.

"Yeah." Glenn confirmed and a smile broke out across the eldest Dixon's face, the man looking so relieved at the news that Amity momentarily felt for him.

"Hey, ya take me to him and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta." Merle offered, obviously wanting to see his brother immediately. That was something Amity understood. "No hard feelings."

He looked to his arm suddenly, the one where a knife stood in place of his hand after he noticed Glenn looking at it apparently.

"Ya like that?" Merle asked, sounding amused. "Yeah. Well, I found myself a medical supply warehouse. Fixed it up myself. Pretty cool, huh?"

"We'll tell Daryl you're here and he'll come out to meet you." Glenn said suddenly and Amity took her eyes off of Merle for a brief moment to look over at Glenn.

"Whoa, Glenn- Daryl will be pissy if we just leave him here." She said, trying to keep her voice low in her best attempt to exclude Merle from their conversation.

"Hold on." Merle cut in. "Just hold up. The ginger's right, ya know? My baby brother ain't going to be pleased." He appealed, moving towards them, but Glenn cut him off.

"Whoa. Whoa." Glenn snapped, halting the man.

"Hold up. Hey, the fact that we found each other is a miracle." Merle reasoned and Amity found herself tensing, ready to release an arrow as something shifted in his tone. "Come on, now. You can trust me."

"You trust us." Amity said suddenly, no longer on board with bringing him back to the prison, never mind Daryl's possible anger.

"You stay here." Glenn commanded.

A tight smile spread across his lips and then he was moving faster than Amity had accounted for, pulling a previously hidden gun from his belt and firing it past her head at the back windshield behind her.

Amity launched herself forward and out of the way as the glass shattered, turning around just as Glenn rounded the edge of the vehicle to find their attacker sat on the ground with his gun to Maggie's head who was held in his grasp.

"Hey, hey, hold up, buddy. Hold up." Merle warned, looking between the pair with a dark smile.

"Let go of her." Amity snapped, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Let go of her!" Glenn yelled after, his gun trained on the man still.

"Put it in the car, son." Merle instructed. "And you, Red, put the bow on the ground, girl."

Glenn and Amity exchanged a look before they both moved to do as the man said. Amity crouched low, gently putting her bow on the hot asphalt before moving to rise to her feet.

"There ya go." Merle praised them, not moving the gun from Maggie's head.

"Now we're gonna go for a little drive." He informed them.

"We're not going back to our camp." Glenn argued.

"No, we're going somewhere else." Merle countered, looking between the two still standing before yelling suddenly.

"Get in the car, Glenn! You're driving!" He ordered. "Move!"

His gun shifted a bit on Maggie's temple and both Amity and Glenn flinched.

"Don't." Glenn said, slowly moving to do as he said.

Once Glenn was out of sight and she heard the car door opening, Merle hauled Maggie to her feet, his eyes still on Amity.

"Now what to do with ya, Red?" He asked, looking her over before adjusting so the blade of his arm was at Maggie's throat and the gun was pointed towards Amity.

"Maybe I don't need three hostages. No, maybe two will do just fine." He drawled out and Maggie struggled in his grasp at that.

Amity stood stark still, watching him closely as she tried to read what hid behind the eyes that so resembled his brother's, but were so drastically different at the same time.

"If you hurt her Daryl will never forgive you!" Maggie told him and Amity wanted to throw something at her. She didn't need the man to know any more details about their group, even if it would potentially save her from whatever he had in mind.

"What? What was that, girl?" Merle asked, shaking Maggie a bit as he pushed her to repeat her words.

"It doesn't matter! If you take our people, they'll find your sorry ass." Amity snapped, making Merle laugh.

"Maybe that's the point, sugar tits." Merle said before a gunshot rang through the air and Amity dropped to the asphalt.

A scream left her lips as she grasped at her bicep, feeling as if she had a hot iron being held to her skin there.

Maggie screamed her name as she was shoved into the backseat of the Suburban.

Amity struggled to her feet, desperately pulling at the gun that was stuffed into the back of her jeans but it was knocked from her hands, Merle now with a gun to her head as he dragged her along to the vehicle, climbing in the middle seat and reaching over Amity to pull the door shut.

He turned his gun back on Maggie who was looking at Amity with wide eyes. The redhead tried to give her a reassuring look, but her head was spinning and suddenly there was about three of the younger woman looking at her.

"Pedal to the metal, Glenny." Merle directed and Amity's stomach lurched as the suburban rolled into motion.

"Damn, Red. You sure do seem to be bleedin' a lot." The man said, looking to the woman who was leaning against the car door, breathing heavily as she gripped her arm, blood leaking out between her fingers.

"Fuck you." She snapped and the man laughed.

"Merle, you can't let her die." Glenn said from the front seat, following the directions Merle had given him.

"Says who?" The man snapped before mellowing out his words. "She ain't gonna die, son- keep your eyes on the road." Merle commanded the young man, reaching into his pocket to pass Amity an old rag.

"Don't bleed out on me yet, sweetheart. We ain't even started having fun yet." He told her and Amity bared her teeth at him, taking the rag anyways because contrary to popular belief, she really didn't want to die.

"Atta girl."

* * *

Heavy footsteps echoed in the corridors as Daryl raced as quickly through the prison as he could with Carol in his arms.

He had found the woman only moments before after discovering her knife embedded in a walker's throat. She had apparently holed herself up in a room, starving while slowly dying of dehydration as they all just wandered past where she had been hidden.

He could kick himself for giving up on looking for her, but at least he had her now.

Bursting into the cellblock, he was surprised to find it empty and rushed to sit the woman down in her old cell, before running to get a bottle of water and helped her drink it.

"Easy there. Easy." He told her as she gratefully swallowed it down.

"Can't believe ya holed yourself up in there." Daryl muttered, shaking his head a bit in disbelief.

Voices entered the cellblock and Daryl left the woman on the bed with a water bottle, briefly resting his hand on the top of her head before turning to jog to the common area, excited to tell the group what he found.

"Rick, Michael." He called out as he walked through the door, slowing when he spotted a woman laying on the ground amongst the group.

"Who the hell is this?" Daryl asked, voice cautious.

"You wanna tell us your name?" Rick asked the woman, his voice fairly gentle. "You wanna tell us your name?" He asked again when she didn't answer.

Daryl didn't have time to wait for her though.

"Y'all come on in here." He insisted, pointing at Michael to get his attention specifically and nodding back towards the cells

"Everything all right?" Rick asked.

"You're gonna wanna see this." Daryl told them.

The eldest Walker moved to the hunter's side, giving him a confused look as he waited for Rick to join them after finishing talking to the woman they had found.

Stepping through the cellblock door, Daryl locked it behind them before leading the men over to the cell where Carol rested.

He put a hand to Rick's chest to slow the man, letting Michael pull a bit ahead of them.

The former rancher's steps fumbled as he looked into the cell, shock overcoming him as he stared at what he first believed to be a ghost. He had thought he saw her so many times out of the corner of his eye or in his dreams that he wasn't sure he wasn't imagining things.

"Mike." Carol said softly, breaking the spell that seemed to have frozen the man in place as she rose from the bunk.

The man lurched forward, wrapping his arms around the woman and pressing her against his chest as he fought against the sobs of relief that threatened to escape him.

Daryl caught the confused look that Rick was sending him, noting that most of the rest of the group hadn't figured out that Carol and Michael had become more than friends either.

The hunter simply smirked over at them as the couple in the cell greeted one another, their lips meeting as Carol clung to the broad man just as he clung to her.

It was only another moment or so before Carol was pulling herself away from Michael, her hand raising to briefly caress his face before she was moving past him to greet the rest of the group, her eyes finding Rick's.

She smiled softly at him, allowing him to wrap her in a hug as well while Michael hovered nearby, as if the woman would disappear if he took his eyes off of her for even as second.

"Thank God." Rick muttered as he embraced her. "Thank God."

Carol let go of him after a couple of seconds, moving to hug Hershel as she ventured further out of the cell.

"How?" The older man asked.

"Solitary." Carol explained.

"Poor thing fought her way into a cell. Must have passed out." Daryl elaborated. "Dehydrated."

The next person that Carol saw was Beth who was holding the baby in her arms.

The woman's eyes grew wide and Michael made a move to step forward, knowing what was to come, but he hesitated as Carol looked back at Rick.

The look on the man's face was enough to inform Carol of what had happened, tears springing to the woman's eyes immediately as she reached out for him. Her hands shaking as she cried.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to him. "I'm sorry."


	17. Chapter 17

Blurriness was all that Amity was met with when she opened her sleep-heavy eyes.

She shook her head a bit, moving to bring her hand up to her face to push back her hair and found that she couldn't move it but pain was shooting up her arm as she tried.

Blinking more rapidly now, the room came into a bit of focus and the woman noted the brick and metal walls, round table, and then finally Maggie who was looking at her with open concern from across said table.

She met the woman's eyes, moving to speak but Maggie shook her head to silence her.

Amity faltered, confused, but dropped her eyes to her arm that was sloppily bandaged and still slowly oozing blood. That's when it all came back to her.

The run for formula, Merle _fucking_ Dixon, and being shot.

She returned her eyes to Maggie who was glancing at the metal wall and she finally realized that there were voices echoing through, both known to her but one way more recognizable than the other.

"We went back for you." She heard Glenn insist.

"Ain't ya thoughtful?" Merle replied, not sounding at all swayed by his words.

"We did, all of us- Rick, Daryl, T-Dog." Glenn continued.

"Mhm, T-Dog." Merle drawled out. "Yeah, big ol' spear-chucker, the one I was pleading with. Mm-hmm, the one that dropped the key. Tell me where he's at. I'm sure T-Dog would like to bury the hatchet, let bygones be bygones."

"He didn't make it." Glenn stated simply.

"Well, I hope he went slow." Merle replied and Amity's hands gripped the wooden legs of her chair where her wrists were taped, her knuckles turning white as pain shot up her bicep.

What she wouldn't give to be alone, hands free, in a room with Merle in that moment.

"Yeah. How about the rest? Hmm?" Merle asked, continuing his interrogation, but Amity wasn't worried about Glenn giving in.

"How about my baby brother? Ya can't tell me he's alive and then hold off on where he is." Merle insisted, but silence followed his words. "No? Well, maybe the sorority bitch will help me out... or is it the farmer's daughter?"

Silence followed again but Glenn's expression must have given something away since Merle continued with a chuckle.

"Ah, yeah. Definitely the farm girl. Now, tell me something- when she's scared and she's holding you close, and her trembling skin is close to you, her soft lips are touching you here, all over here, and over here- feels good, don't it?" Merle all but purred, the volume of his voice changing in a way that had Amity realizing he must have been moving around the space.

Amity watched Maggie carefully, meeting the woman's fear-filled gaze as steadily as she could with how light-headed she felt. She was trying to reassure her, to let her know that they would get out of this. That their people would come for them.

"I remember ya. Yeah. You're the sneaky one, the one with nerve. Ya don't scare easy, do you?" Merle asked him, a light chuckle sounding through the wall before the man's voice became hard. "I like that. Now I wanna know where my brother is."

Painted grunts came after that, obviously Glenn's, and Amity held her friend's gaze from across the table as her breathing became heavier.

Amity's hands were trembling where they were taped, but she would never show that. This was hard for her but it was worse for Maggie- she had to be strong for her.

"I wanna know where the sheriff is!" Merle yelled suddenly before being cut off by a thud, Merle's sounds of pain reaching them.

Amity was a cross between being proud of Glenn and frustrated with him for potentially making everything worse for himself.

The sound that was unmistakably a punch being thrown sounded next, then another, and another.

Amity steeled herself from flinching though one of her legs bounced at a ridiculous speed, revealing her anxiety over the situation.

"Now, I wanna know where they're hiding, where your camp is, and I wanna know now." Merle declared, another punch following his words.

"I wanna know now!" He shouted, accentuating each question with another hit. "Where the hell are they? Tell me!"

* * *

Rick stood just in front of the woman they had rescued from outside of the fence, his blue eyes trained on her while Daryl and Hershel hovered just behind him.

"We can tend to that wound for you, give you a little food and water, and then send you on your way, but you're gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula and one of our people's weapon." Rick told the woman, trying to appeal to her.

"The supplies and bow were dropped by a young Asian guy with two pretty girls- one brunette and one redhead." The woman revealed, Daryl tensing from his place as his blue eyes narrowed.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"Were they attacked?" Hershel added, concern for his daughter and practical son shining clearly through.

"They were taken." The woman revealed.

"Taken? By who?" Rick questioned, his mind racing with the new information.

"By the same son of a bitch who shot me." She growled, not being the most forthcoming with her knowledge. "Shot one of yours too."

Daryl shifted in place, all three men falling quiet for a moment as they tried to not let panic get the best of them.

"Who was shot?" Hershel asked but the woman said nothing.

"Hey, these are our people. You tell us what happened now!" Rick snapped, leaning forward to put pressure on the woman's gunshot wound in her thigh.

She jumped away from the pain, baring her teeth at the former sheriff as Daryl's crossbow rose to keep her at bay.

"Don't you ever touch me again!" She snarled, pointing at Rick.

"Ya'd better start talking." Daryl growled, showing no sign of caring for the woman when she was keeping him from finding their people, from finding Amity. "Or you're gonna have a much bigger problem than a gunshot wound."

"Find 'em yourself." The woman hissed at him.

Daryl lunged forward, ready to either skewer her or beat the information out of her, he hadn't decided which yet, but Rick was pushing down his crossbow as soon as he had moved.

"Hey, shh, shh, shh." The leader soothed. "Put it down."

Rick turned to woman once more, trying to put her at ease.

"You came here for a reason." He reminded her.

The woman hesitated, apparently weighing her options before speaking.

"There's a town. Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there." She revealed.

"A whole town?" Rick questioned.

"It's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor- pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type." She told the three men.

"He got muscle?" Daryl asked, needing to know what they were about to go up against.

There was no doubt that they would be going up against them. They weren't going to leave anyone behind.

"Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall." The woman explained.

"You know a way in?" Rick asked her, eyeing her for a moment.

"The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through." She reasoned.

"How'd you know how to get here?" The leader asked, an important question for their safety.

"They mentioned a prison, said which direction it was in and that it was a straight shot." She told him.

"Who was shot?" Daryl cut in at the small reminder of what she said happened, needing to know.

He _had_ to know.

"The redhead, she tried to return fire but-" The woman went to explain but Daryl cut her off.

"Was she alive?" He asked and she looked at him with veiled curiosity.

"Was she alive?" He nearly yelled when he got no answer, his crossbow coming up again even as Rick stepped in between him and the stranger.

"When she was put in the car she was alive. It looked like she was shot in the arm." The woman told him finally, her voice holding less of an edge than it had before.

Daryl felt himself deflate a bit, one of his hands raising to his lips as he lowered his crossbow and took the nail of his thumb between his teeth, the action revealing his worries.

He left the common room swiftly, knowing that he needed to seek out Michael and only caught Rick's words fading behind him.

"This is Hershel, the father of one of the girls who were taken. He'll take care of that."

* * *

"I gotta hand it to ya, you're a lot tougher than I remember." Merle's voice echoed through the wall that connected where Maggie and Amity were being held to where Merle was with Glenn.

The last half an hour had been filled with a lot of pained grunts from Glenn and yelled questions punctuated with punches from Merle.

It was hard to listen to and Amity promised herself then and there that when she got out of there, Dixon or not, she would punch Merle in his ugly mug.

"No surprise ya lasted this long. Shoot, I figured the way Officer Friendly abandoned people, he would have left ya behind by now. But he didn't do that, did he? So tell me, where y'all been at?" Merle asked and Amity rolled her eyes.

It had been the same drill for the past half an hour except now Glenn spoke back.

"It's just a matter of time before they come looking." The younger man threatened.

"I'll bake a cake with pink frosting. Would they like that?" Merle asked sarcastically. "Ain't nobody coming."

"Rick is. And when he gets here-" Glenn began but the other man cut him off.

"He's gonna do nothin', not if he wants ya, Bo Peep, and The Little Mermaid back. Think I'm in this by myself?" Merle pointed out.

"You can't take us all. There's too many of us." Glenn countered.

"There ain't a pair of nuts between the whole pussy lot of ya." Merle growled.

"We've been on the road, not hiding in some dungeon." Glenn spat. "Rick, Shane, Dale, Jim, Andrea."

"Really? Is that right?" Merle asked him, sounding pleased for some reason.

There was a heavy moment of silence that followed his words, one that had Amity looking at Maggie with a bit of confusion and unease.

"Thank you." Merle announced to the room before Amity heard the sound of a door closing and footsteps retreating away from both of their holding rooms.

It was then that Amity began to struggle, not caring about the bit of noise she made as she tore against her bonds, an involuntary hiss leaving her from the pain that shot up her arm.

She could hear Glenn's labored breathing, the sound of him spitting on the ground more than once which clued her into the fact that he had to have blood pooling in his mouth.

The situation enraged her to no end.

She couldn't handle being unable to move and now she was fighting against the duct tape like a caged animal until Maggie's quiet shushing noise had her hesitating, another set of footsteps sounding down the hall outside their holding rooms and stopping at their door.

* * *

"How do you know we can trust her?" Oscar asked the group as they gathered at the base of the stairs in the cell block, discussing their next plan of action.

Daryl was fidgety and impatient as he looked around.

He didn't want to discuss it, he wanted to just _go_. He would get his woman back by himself if he had to.

"This is Maggie, Amity, and Glenn. Why are we even debating?" Beth asked, sounding annoyed.

"We ain't. I'll go after them." Daryl told her, hiking his crossbow further up on his shoulder.

"You know I'm with you, man." Michael added, nodding at Daryl.

"Well, this place sounds pretty secure." Rick cut in, trying to make the two men stop and think for a moment. "You can't go alone."

"I'll go." Beth said simply.

"Me too." Axel added quickly.

"I'm in." Oscar agreed after a moment's hesitation.

In the end it was decided that it would be Daryl, Rick, Michael, Oscar, and the swordswoman to go into the town and get back their people.

They didn't want to leave the prison completely unprotected but they needed as many people going in as they could afford.

"I got the flash bangs and I got the tear gas." Daryl listed off as he tossed the bag into the back of the Hyundai, Oscar at his side. "Ya never know what you're gonna need."

He stepped back to put the leather vest he always donned on over his sleeveless shirt, spotting Carl as he came over with a few bags.

Reaching out, Daryl snagged one from the younger boy he had been keeping an eye on lately, moving to put it in the trunk as well before glancing over at him.

"Hey, don't ya worry about your old man." Daryl reassured him, reaching out to lightly pat the kid's back. "I'm gonna keep my eye on him."

Carl looked at him for a moment before nodding, trusting the man more than most to hold to his word.

It took longer than Daryl would have liked, but finally the equipment they needed was loaded up and they were heading out.

After basically chomping at the bit to get on the road, the hunter thought that getting moving would soothe the uneasy feeling in his stomach but it hadn't. He felt like they were about to step in a pile of shit that was deeper than they reckoned, but that didn't matter that much.

They had taken their people, taken Amity, and they weren't going to be left behind.

He didn't know much about this Woodbury place, but if they had hurt her, then they could expect a storm.

* * *

The footsteps paused outside of their door for what seemed like ages before a man finally entered the room.

He was hispanic by the looks of him and looked between the women with curiosity and interest apparent in his gaze.

His boots sounded across the floor as he stalked towards them and bent down to cut Amity's hands free from the chair but not from each other. As he tried to push the redhead from the room alone, leaving Maggie behind, the woman struggled in his grasp while Maggie fought against the restraints that bound her.

"Let go of me!" Amity snapped, trying to elbow the man as Glenn's voice echoed through the wall, just realizing they were there.

"Amity?" He called but the woman wasn't focused on him.

She was dragged from the room without much effort on the well-muscled man's part and thrown into another room nearly identical to the one she had just been in.

Amity cursed and spat the entire way until she was taped into another chair, threatening the man if he touched her friend. The guy just laughed as he left the room and Amity felt herself panicking now that she was alone.

It took a few long moments, but then a sound at the door had her looking up to see Maggie being moved in as well, sat in a seat directly next to her this time to leave an empty chair across the table from them both.

Nothing about it boded well.

"See, Red, you had nothing to worry about." The hispanic man reassured her, his voice less cruel than she expected, but as a hand smoothed down her messy ginger locks, she felt her stomach flip uncomfortably.

The man left them to the silence of the room and to one another's company.

"You okay?" Amity asked the woman next to her who nodded quickly.

"Yeah, you?" Maggie asked in return and Amity nodded as well.

"We're going to get out of here, Mags." The redhead said firmly, leaving no room for the loss of faith. "Daryl, Rick, Michael... they're not going to leave us here. Daryl can track, he'll find us."

"I know." Maggie replied, her voice sounding more like she was soothing _her_ at that point and Amity realized that she had been babbling a bit, revealing her panic.

She went to speak once more but the sound of footsteps outside of the door once again had both women freezing, looking towards the entrance with obvious fear.

A man pushed it open a moment later, different from the one before. This man who looked ridiculously well-kept and bored with what he was presented with in front of him- he put Amity on edge immediately.

Blue eyes narrowed at him as he approached, a knife being pulled from his belt as he did so.

Amity assumed that it was their turn to be questioned, something that she had been waiting for since the first time Merle hit Glenn, but she had always assumed it would be Merle who came for them. Not this older version of a Ken doll.

He circled around them, Amity tensing once she couldn't see him anymore before hesitating in confusion as he cut Maggie's hands free first and then Amity's.

It was a ridiculously confident move that had the redhead promising to shove his knife down his throat if he tried something.

"May I?" He asked the women, gesturing towards the empty chair and receiving nothing but silence in response.

"Thank you." He continued as if they had granted him their blessing to do so.

He sat, looking at them quietly before nodding once.

"We'll take you back to your people, explain this was all just a misunderstanding." He told them and Amity held back a scoff. "You tell us where they are and we'll drive you there."

"I want to talk to Glenn." Maggie said simply and Amity nodded.

They needed the three of them together and on the same page if they were going to get out. She also wanted to make sure that the younger man was still breathing.

"I can't allow that." The man told them both, shaking his head a bit. "Your people are dangerous. Handcuffed my man to a roof, forced him to amputate his own hand."

Amity assumed that he was talking about Merle- that was a story that she knew only very briefly.

"I don't know anything about that." Maggie told him, looking to Amity as if to ask if she did.

"That was before my time with our group." Amity said flatly, ignoring the way the man's eyes lingered over her face, following the curvature of her throat.

"You just tell us where they are and we'll bring them here." The man insisted but neither woman budged. "You'll be safe, I promise." He added on the end.

"No?" He asked, still receiving stony silence after he had shut down them seeing Glenn.

"Fine. Let's try something else."

He looked at them both, meeting Maggie's eyes before Amity's who held his gaze with a fierce promise of his own pain at the end of it all.

"Stand up, please." He requested, but neither woman moved. Amity glared at him while Maggie looked at him with a bit of confusion.

"Stand up." He snapped more harshly this time, proving that his charming act was just that- _an act_.

Amity moved only after Maggie did, the throb in her arm becoming that much more obvious to her now that she was on her feet and gravity was pulling the blood down to her hands once again.

"Take off your shirts." The man requested and Amity bared her teeth.

"No." Maggie said firmly.

"Go fuck yourself." Amity spat.

"Take off your shirts or I'll bring Glenn's hand in here." He stated in a voice that left both women weighing their options.

Amity had no doubt that the man would do as he said.

Maggie pulled her shirt over her head, standing with her chin tilted up as she looked at the man whose eyes disgustingly raked over her form.

Amity was having a bit more trouble as her arm wasn't allowing her to pull the fitted tank top over her head.

"Help your friend." The man all but purred to Maggie who met Amity's eyes, apology obviously in them but Amity nodded and allowed her friend to hook her fingers under the end of the shirt and carefully pull it over her head and down her injured arm.

Stood in both their bras, Amity felt bile rise in her throat at what he was making them do not only in front of him, but in front of one another.

It wasn't about Maggie seeing her shirtless, she didn't care about that, but it was about being made so weak and compliant in front of someone she not only admired, but held love and respect for. She hated seeing Maggie in this situation and knew the woman felt the same by the look she was giving her, but Amity kept her eyes and face hard, showing nothing but challenge as she stood facing their perverted interrogator.

She knew that was the angle he was going for- semi-public humiliation.

"Go on." He said and both women knew what he meant.

"When I get out of here you're going to wish you were dead, pretty boy." Amity growled, moving her hand to undo the clasp of her dark purple bra, letting it fall down her arms and onto the table before she was covering herself, her uninjured arm pressed firmly across her breasts to keep them mostly hidden from sight.

Humiliation threatened to burn her alive, but she refused to let him think he had won.

She watched carefully as he removed his belt, the action meant to intimidate and warn as he circled the room towards them.

The harsh scraping of their chairs being pulled from behind them had Maggie flinching and Amity weighing whether or not she could take him with her blood loss and injury, but she wasn't willing to risk Maggie's safety in the process.

A hand roughly grasped the gunshot wound on her arm, pulling a small scream of surprise and pain from the redhead as she was pressed face first into the table, the man pressed against her backside as Maggie trembled next to them.

"Stop." Maggie pleaded, her voice thick but unwavering.

Amity whimpered from pain more than from fear as the man leaned over her, his chest pressing to her bare back as his lips grazed her ear.

"You've got a smart mouth on you. Why don't you put it to better use?" He suggested coldly. "Either tell me where your group is or I can find other uses for it." He threatened.

"Fuck you." Amity gasped out, her breathing labored as he pressed her ribcage hard into the edge of the table.

He abruptly let her go, leaving her to grasp her arm in pain as he pushed Maggie down against the table next.

Amity moved to push him away, but Maggie's shake of her head stopped her.

It wouldn't stop her for long though.

"So how about you, sweetheart? You gonna talk?" He asked, a hand on the back of the brunette's head.

"You can do whatever you're gonna do." Maggie told him coldly. "And go to hell."

Amity could see the anger flair in the man but before she could react she was reeling backwards and Maggie was falling to the floor.

The redhead blinked away stars as Maggie crawled towards her, the younger woman quietly asking if she was okay as she tugged Amity's hands from her face to see the area around her temple to her cheekbone already beginning to bruise and swell where the crazy man had hit her before throwing Maggie down.

"Martinez!" The man yelled towards the door and the other man entered, looking between the shirtless women on the ground and his leader, seeming conflicted for a moment before his face was schooled into indifference.

"Get the ginger bitch." He directed, the other man moving immediately as the apparent leader hauled Maggie to her feet, the woman's arms still crossed to hide herself.

Amity felt a hand on her injured arm and let out a yelp that had the man retreating before snatching her up by her other arm, not tugging hard enough to stop her from covering herself as they were pushed from the room.

"We're going to go pay your friend a visit like you ladies wanted." The leader told them, his voice a growl.

"See? I'm not the bad guy here." He insisted despite what he had just done and Amity spat in his direction before being pushed roughly against the wall in response.

* * *

Leaning heavily against the car door, Daryl's fingers fiddled with one of his arrows as they drove.

His mind was racing with the possibilities of what could have happened to their people and what they could potentially find when they got to this town.

He tried to keep his mind from Amity- from the fact she was going into a hostile area already wounded and that anything and everything could be happening to her.

It was already a fruitless task, but the concerned glances Rick kept sending him from the seat next to him weren't helping.

"Pull over here." The woman requested from the back seat where she was sat between Michael and Oscar.

Rick cast a glance back at her in the rearview mirror but did as she said.

As soon as the car pulled to a stop, Daryl was leaping out, thankful for something to do.

"They have patrols. We're better off on foot." The woman explained after climbing out of the vehicle as well and ignoring the hand Michael offered out to help her.

"How far?" Rick asked her. "Night's coming."

"It's a mile, maybe two." She told him.

Daryl went to the back of the vehicle, unloading their equipment and securing the weapons that he needed onto his person.

The group headed into the woods and away from a walker that was stumbling towards them once everyone had all that they needed.

Daryl and Rick took up the back, the woman hobbling in the lead with Oscar and Michael just behind her.

Being in the woods was a soothing feeling as usual, but nothing could ease the tension out of Daryl at that point.

Nothing but having a certain redhead in his arms again, unharmed, and looking up at his with those cornflower blue eyes.

"I know what you did for me, for my baby, while I was...working things out." Rick spoke up suddenly from his side, but Daryl kept his eyes trained on the path ahead of them. "Thank you."

"It's what we do." Daryl responded simply, not needing his friend's thanks for his actions. He didn't do it for the gratitude.

"We're gonna get her back." The leader promised, watching the hunter. "All of them."

Daryl said nothing to that, he had nothing to say, but he nodded at the man all the same.

After a few more moments of walking, a familiar sound reached Daryl's trained ears and he was reaching a hand forward, crouching lower to the forest floor.

"Rick." He hissed out, warning the man of their company.

"Down." Rick directed the rest of the group. "Get in formation. No gunfire."

With that the leader lunged forward, driving his machete through one of the walker's skulls as Daryl sent an arrow through another.

Michael and Oscar were quick to follow suit, the woman hanging back due to her injury but soon the hunter had the numbers and knew they couldn't take them all on.

"There's too many of them." He growled out, pulling his large hunting knife from its sheath on his belt.

"This way." Rick called out, ducking through the undergrowth. "Through there. Come on."

They rushed through the forest, the walker horde hot on their tails, but soon a small cabin entered their sight. They ran for it, busting it open with only a moment's hesitation once they were in the door.

"Get the door." Rick commanded and the woman slammed it shut behind them, locking it.

Daryl winced a bit as he was confronted with the sharp familiar scent of rotting flesh and at first he feared there was a walker inside.

"The smell, it's loud." He said, raising his hand holding his knife to his nose before he stalked forward, ready to eliminate whatever threat was inside.

"What the hell is that?" Oscar asked from nearby, his flashlight trained on something.

"It's got to be a fox or what's left of one." The hunter reasoned, catching a glimpse of fur before he was closer and realized what it actually was.

"I guess Lassie went home." He said, looking at the deceased dog before turning as the walkers slammed themselves against the door and walls of the cabin, seeming to have finally caught up to them.

Rick let out a nearly silent whistle, catching Daryl's attention as he pointed towards a bed with rumpled covers.

The hunter nodded in response, creeping forward with his friend as he held his knife at the ready.

Ripping back the covers, Rick revealed not a walker of any sort but an older _living_ guy.

"Who the hell are you?" The man yelled and Daryl shifted his stance.

"We don't mean any harm." Rick tried to reason with him.

"Get outta my house!" The man yelled in response.

"Okay, okay, okay. We will, but we can't right now." Rick explained, but the man cut him off.

"Now!" He shouted.

"Shut him up." The woman at their side hissed.

"Get out right now!" The man continued to yell.

"There are walkers outside." Rick told him, making the man glance nervously at the door then at Daryl who was stood at the ready, his knife raised to lunge at the man if needed.

"I'll call the cops!" The man told them.

"I am a cop." Rick snapped back. "Now I need you to lower the gun." He requested, slowly crouching to put down his weapons as well.

"Don't do anything rash. Everything's fine." He soothed. "Let's just- let's just take this nice and slow, okay? Look at me. Hey, hey."

The man cocked his shotgun in answer, pointing it directly at Rick's face.

"Show me your badge." He demanded and Rick nodded.

"Alright, it's in my pocket. It's in my pocket." The former sheriff lied, moving slow. "Now, I'm just gonna reach down nice and slow."

Rick lunged, pushing the gun aside as it went off and blew out one of the doors, nearly getting Daryl in the process if the man wouldn't have had the reflexes to leap out of the way.

"Let go! Let go of me!" The cabin owner yelled as Rick got him locked in a hold. "I'll kill you! Let go of me!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" Rick told him, covering his mouth with his hand before the man bit down hard on it, forcing him to let go.

"Help! They found me!" The man screamed as he ran towards the front door, obviously not in his right mind.

"Don't open that door." Rick called after him.

"Hel- " The man began, but the words died in his throat as a sword was shoved through his chest.

Daryl looked at the dark-skinned woman who had ran the guy through with cautious blue eyes. He wasn't completely on board with trusting the woman. Hell, if she wasn't leading them to Amity, Glenn, and Maggie then Daryl wouldn't have kept her in the prison past getting her leg stitched up.

The hunter raced to the front of the cabin nonetheless, his mind already moving onto more important things like their survival and getting back to saving their people.

He noted the large number of walkers stumbling across the yard plus the boards that were now being ripped off the door, but a plan quickly came to him.

"Remember the Alamo?" He asked the group, looking over his shoulder at Rick.

"Help me with the door." Rick said suddenly, catching on rather fast.

"You've gotta be kidding." Oscar said, seemingly uncomfortable with what they were about to do and Michael at his side simply said nothing, keeping his thoughts on the matter to himself as he looked over the trio at the front of the cabin with calculating eyes nearly identical to his sister's.

"He's dead." Rick reasoned as he lifted the body with Daryl. "Check the back."

Oscar went to do as the leader instructed, pulling open the backdoor slowly to see that there were no walkers in the back.

"It's clear!" He informed them.

"One, two, three." Rick counted down and the woman pulled open the door, Rick and Daryl shoving the corpse of the dead man through the open passage and using it to shield and push against walkers before retreating back inside.

The group rushed to the back of the cabin, knowing they had a limited time to get out but Daryl locked the door behind them to make sure no undead would be stumbling in after them as they left.

They left the hungry snarling of the walkers behind them as the horde dug into the dead body and continued their way through the woods.

* * *

Merle was waiting near the end of the corridor for them, looking between the women that were being held before he pushed into the room that must have been holding Glenn.

"Ah-ah." The man's voice warned, but Amity couldn't see why he was reprimanding her friend.

Once Merle glanced back at them, the two men drug both Maggie and Amity forward and Amity's eyes widened at the battered face of the younger man.

He looked between them with shock, anger showing clear on his face as he took in their state of undress and he lunged forward with a wooden stake in his hand that had Amity wondering what the hell went on while they were in another room unable to hear him.

"Hey!" Martinez warned while Merle simply pointed a gun at his chest.

"Drop it." The older Dixon snapped.

Glenn hesitated but at a nod from Maggie, he let the wooden stake clatter to the floor.

"We're through with games." The leader announced, drawing his gun and pointing it at Maggie's head. "Now one of you are gonna give up your camp."

He looked at Glenn for a long moment before shifting the gun to point at Amity's head. Her eyes met her friend's and the ginger shook her head at him.

The man seemed to know which one of them was more likely to break as he then turned the gun on Glenn himself, letting go of Maggie and stalking forward to put it to Glenn's forehead.

"The prison." Maggie said finally, moving after the man.

Amity couldn't even blame her for giving in.

She knew she would do the same if the gun was trained between a set of Georgia blue eyes instead of Glenn's brown.

"The one near Nunez?" Merle asked.

"That place is overrun." The leader stated.

"We took it." Maggie told him.

"How many are you?" The leader asked, and Amity let her eyes fall shut for a moment, feeling regret and guilt wash over her as their friends were given up.

"Twelve- we have twelve now." Maggie almost whispered.

"Twelve people cleared that whole prison of biters? Huh?" The man asked, turning to look back over his shoulder at the two women as Amity reopened her eyes to look at him with nothing but coldness.

The leader let his gun drop with a cruel chuckle, crossing back over to the women and running his hand down Maggie's cheek, his eyes trained on Glenn as he did so.

"Don't fucking touch her." Amity spat weakly, her vision already blurry from blood loss along with the earlier punch to the face as she struggled against Martinez's hold.

"Easy, Red." The hispanic man said in her ear, his arm hooking around her bare waist instead to hold her in place, his chest pressed firmly against her back.

She wanted to break every bone in all three of the men's bodies.

"Shh, shh, shh." She heard the leader say, pressing Maggie close to him. "It's alright. It's alright."

The man kept his eyes on Glenn for a long moment, a cruel smile playing across his lips before he was shoving Maggie towards the man.

Amity felt a fair bit of relief as Glenn caught the younger woman in his arms, holding her tightly as she sobbed against him.

He looked like he was ready to tear the leader to shreds and Amity knew that she would help him do so.

The man turned his disgusting gaze onto Amity, smiling at her while her metaphorical hackles raised.

"You never found yourself a good use for that mouth, did you?" He asked her, voice low as he leaned in, his lips grazing her cheek as Martinez let go of her and took a step back.

"No one's here for you to run to, sweetheart." He taunted as Amity kept her chin tilted upwards, her eyes trained straight ahead.

A hand closed on her throat, the pressure catching her off guard as her back hit the wall. She clawed at his hand, her injured arm raised in an attempt to preserve a bit of her modesty and dignity as her uninjured arm tugged against his hold on her.

"I could take you back with me. Leave you somewhere where no one will care how loud you scream, how much you curse and spit." He growled in her ear and she faintly heard Maggie yelling her name over the sound of blood pounding in her ears.

"I'll be back for you." The leader told her with a sharp smile, abruptly letting go of her so she would slide down the wall to the floor.

The leader exited the room without pause after that, leaving Amity sucking in deep breaths while simultaneously trying to cough her lungs up as she regained her breath.

Merle and Martinez hesitated a moment longer, Merle meeting Glenn's furious gaze while Martinez seemed to be making sure that Amity wasn't going to keel over then and there- but after a few seconds, they left as well.

Once the door shut, Amity saw Glenn and Maggie both coming to where she was still sat on the ground but she quickly shook her head not wanting to be touched, not wanting their attempt at comfort.

She couldn't handle it right then.

The couple paused and Glenn whispered something to Maggie before the woman wrapped herself around him once more, sobbing into his shoulder.

Amity sat alone with her arms wrapped around her torso, blood oozing from her wound once more from the rough handling as she pulled her legs up to her chest. She made herself small and guarded before letting her forehead drop to her knees and sobs wracked her body for the first time since the whole mess had started.

* * *

By the time the small group had reached the walls of Woodbury, it was dark.

They crept along the outskirts of the woods, only ducking behind a car on the very edge of the clearing in front of the gates so that they could get a look up at the men who stood on the walls.

Daryl counted three, noting their weapons and especially the bow that one of the men carried.

He had to be a confident shooter to rely on it as his main weapon like himself and Amity did.

Confidence could either be a threat or the man's downfall depending on if he was as good as he might have thought he was or not.

He met Rick's eyes next to him before looking at Michael.

The former rancher gave the hunter a nod, letting him know that he was more than ready to get into that town and rip it apart if they had to to find their people.

Daryl readjusted his crossbow just as the woman who got them there darted away into the darkness, Rick cursing as she went.

They were up shit creek without a paddle without her to lead them.

"All right, we need to downsize." Rick said, turning to the other three men as they all began to quietly strip their gear.

"Ain't no way we're gonna check in all them buildings, not with all them guards there." Daryl told him.

The sound of a twig snapping had the four men all turning, Daryl's crossbow raising as he prepared to skewer who or whatever came out behind them, but he relaxed when he saw it was the woman back again.

She looked at them all with annoyance, nodding her head towards where she went off and Daryl realized that she had been expecting them to follow her.

"Alright, let's go." Rick said, and then they were on the move again, following the woman down the line of the wall to where they could apparently get in.

He just hoped his woman was still hanging in.

* * *

Amity's sobs had faded rather quickly though she still sat separate from the couple.

Glenn had stripped off his shirt earlier, giving it to Maggie to cover herself with a glance at Amity who shook her head, trying to dispel whatever guilt he was feeling for doing so and not being able to provide the same for her.

Maggie needed him, not her.

Amity was fine.

She kept repeating that to herself in her head.

She was fine. Everything was fine. She would get out of there, that man would never touch her again, and she'd continue to be okay.

"Maggie, did he-" Glenn's quiet question reached Amity's ears, but she kept her eyes trained on the far wall.

"No." Maggie said immediately. "No. He barely touched me."

"Amity?" He said quieter, as if the redhead wouldn't hear him.

"No. Lots of threats. He hit her, hurt her, but not that." Maggie said back, equally as quiet before clearing her throat, bringing Amity's blue eyes to her.

"All this time, running from walkers- you forget what people do, have always done." Maggie said, holding the other woman's gaze before returning it to Glenn.

"Look at what they did to you." She said, anger clear in her voice.

"Doesn't matter." Glenn told her. "As long as he didn't-"

"No." Maggie cut him off. "I promise."

Amity turned her eyes away as they embraced once more, the man's words coming back to her.

She was on her own in that place even with her friends beside of her. It wasn't something she was angry or upset about, but it was something that let a bit of hopelessness sink deep into her.

"Hey." Glenn said suddenly, regaining her attention as he rose to his feet with a pained groan.

She watched him walk carefully across the room to the walker body that was in there with them and he leaned down to grab its arm, bracing a foot on its torso as he tugged the limb out of socket.

"What are you doing?" Amity asked, her voice just little over a whisper as she debated rising to her feet or not, but remembering she was still shirtless, she stayed in her spot with her knees hugged to her chest as Maggie got up.

She watched as he stepped on the arm, breaking the bone before she finally realized that he was making a weapon, which he handed to Maggie.

It was an odd sight- Glenn out for blood as he was, but she felt the same.

If she was ever free then the man who touched her better leave the damn country if he held the slightest bit of self-preservation.

"Make 'em pay." She said quietly, making both of her companions turn to her.

Silence stretched between them before Maggie nodded firmly.

* * *

The four men crept through the fence, following along behind the woman as she led them into a building that resembled a clinic of sorts.

"This is where you were held?" Rick asked her.

"I was questioned." The woman shot back bitterly.

"Any idea where else they could be?" Rick questioned as Daryl moved towards one of the windows, cautiously peering through to the outside streets and seeing people walking down the road.

"I thought you said there was a curfew." He said, looking towards the woman with narrowed eyes.

"The street is packed during the day. Those are stragglers." She explained.

"If anyone comes in here, we're sitting ducks. We gotta move." Rick cut in, looking out the window then as well.

"They could be in his apartment." She suggested.

"Yeah? What if they ain't?" Daryl asked harshly, annoyed with the woman who lead them into the town just to apparently have no idea where to go.

"Then we'll look somewhere else." She growled back.

"You said you could help us." Rick told her.

"I'm doing what I can." She insisted.

"Then where in the hell are they?" Michael asked, his tone sharp.

"Hey." Rick whispered, nodding the men with him over away from the door.

"If this goes south, we're cutting her loose." He told them and the others nodded in response.

"You think she's leading us into a trap?" Oscar asked.

"Right now it's the blind leading the blind." Daryl said with a small shake of his head.

"Let's split up." He suggested with nod before a knock sounded at the door, making everyone's heads snap in that direction.

"I know you're in here. I saw you moving from outside." A voice called out through the closed door.

Swiftly the group converged, ducking behind a set of pull out curtains as the door opened and a man wandered in.

"Alright now, you're not supposed to be in here and you know it. Who's in here?" He called, moving further into the room.

As he passed the curtain Rick lunged out, covering the man's mouth with his hand as Daryl aimed his crossbow at his head.

"Shut up. Get on your knees. Hands behind your back." Rick directed harshly, forcing him to his knees and kneeling down with him, his gun pointed at his face.

"Zip tie him." He directed Daryl who immediately did as he was told, making sure to tighten the zip ties to a painful point.

"Where are our people?" Rick asked the man.

"I don't know." The Woodbury member said quietly.

"You are holding some of our people. Where the hell are they?" Rick snarled but the man's face looked confused as ever.

"I don't know." The man insisted and Rick found that he believed him.

"Open your mouth." He directed, stuffing a cloth into the man's mouth once he did.

Daryl lunged forward, easily knocking him out with the butt of his crossbow and sending him to the floor.

They made quick work of stashing him in one of the clinic's closets, making it hard for him to get out and raise the alarms if he came to quicker than they would like.

* * *

Blood was slick beneath Amity's hand as she held the fragment of bone Glenn had given her tightly in it.

They stood at the door in absolute silence, all braced to attack whoever came through next.

Footsteps alerted them that someone was coming and as the door swung open, Glenn charged through and pushed Merle out of the way as Maggie slammed the other man with him against the wall, digging her bone fragment into his throat.

Amity swiftly delivered a kick to the underside of Merle's jaw as he fell, feeling sickly pleased by the sound of his teeth clacking together but the man was only stunned for a moment as soon gunshots blaring from the gun of the man Maggie killed had them all diving out of the way.

As Amity got to her feet again, Maggie held her gun up to Merle who had Glenn in a chokehold with his knife-hand at his throat.

"Let him go!" Maggie yelled and Amity readjusted the bone in her hand, ready to lunge and kill the man if he made a wrong move.

"Okay." Merle said, surprising them both as he let Glenn go but the sound of footsteps behind them let them know why.

Amity spun on her heels, ready to lash out but Martinez had a gun trained at her head, his eyes a bit wide and the redhead knew that she had to look positively _feral_ with her messy red hair, blood-covered weapon made of bone, and blood now smeared across her topless torso.

She was pleased with that fact.

She wanted them to fear her, to fear everything they had done.

"Get up!" Merle yelled at Glenn who was still on the ground groaning in pain.

As he stumbled to his feet, Amity was pushed along the corridor with Martinez's gun digging into her bare back.

Being topless at this point was more of an inconvenience than anything else as her arm was screaming in pain from being held up to cover her while wounded, but she couldn't afford not to leave her good arm free.

She heard Maggie and Glenn behind her as she stumbled into a large room, moving to the middle before being forced on her knees with Maggie and Glenn on one side of her.

She leaned to gently touch Maggie's arm as the couple exchanged what they were sure were going to be their last words to one another. She couldn't help but seek her friend's presence as a bag was placed over her head.

She felt a vest be roughly shoved over her arms a second later, the front being left open but it at least felt as if it covered her breasts and resembled a top. She was assuming that the leader didn't want any of his people to know exactly what went on in his dungeon if they were spotted.

Her hands were bound together behind her back and then she was being tugged to her feet and led out into the open air, the coolness of it nipping at her wounds and mostly exposed torso.

Amity's mind was racing, trying to come up with a game plan before a loud bang had whoever was holding onto her stumbling away before the bag was ripped off of her head.

She blinked a couple of times, more than a little disoriented, but upon finding a familiar set of blue eyes she nearly let out a sob then and there.

Daryl looked at her like he had seen a ghost, his eyes taking in the bruises on the side of her face before dropping to her bleeding arm and finally registering the fact that she was almost bare chested aside from being draped in an overly large man's vest.

Neither could afford to dwell or explain right then though, not as gunfire was being returned.

The hunter nudged her along down a corridor, staying close to her back as he returned fire.

She focused on moving forward and staying with the group, keeping Maggie in her sights as her brother fell into step next to her and took one of her hands in his, holding it tightly as he tugged her along.

"Inside, quick!" Amity heard Rick direct as they crept along a sidewalk.

A moment later she was being pulled into a building and Glenn was collapsing to the ground.

"Ain't no way out back here." Daryl announced, quickly scanning the room before returning to Amity's side, her brother already hovering protectively over her.

"What happened?" Michael was asking, his voice a low rumble as he gently cupped the redhead's face, examining the bruising there.

"Later." Amity insisted, not meeting the man's eyes as she zipped up the front of the vest to make it a better excuse for a shirt, Daryl's eyes following the movement as he white-knuckled the crossbow in his hands.

He would tear every person in this damned town limb from limb.

"Rick, how did you find us?" Maggie asked.

"How bad are you hurt?" Rick asked Glenn who was on the floor.

Amity moved quickly to join him and Maggie, kneeling on his other side.

"I'll be alright." Glenn insisted.

"Where's that woman?" Maggie asked loudly.

"She was right behind us." Rick replied, moving to look out the window but apparently not seeing the woman they were talking about.

"Maybe she was spotted." Oscar suggested.

"Want me to go look for her?" Daryl asked.

"No." Rick said at the same time Amity did, causing a few pairs of eyes to turn her way but she said no more, turning her attention back to Glenn.

"We gotta get them out of here. She's on her own." Rick insisted.

"Daryl, this was Merle." Glenn gasped out, meeting Amity's pleading eyes but deciding it needed to be said anyways.

He was pissed, beyond angry, and it couldn't wait.

"It was." Maggie confirmed.

"He did this." Glenn insisted, reaching out to give Amity's hand a gentle squeeze.

"You saw him?" Rick asked.

"Face-to-face." Glenn replied. "Shot Amity. Threw a walker at me. He was gonna execute us."

As Daryl moved closer and into the light, Amity forced herself to look at him, taking in the shock and confusion that made up his expression.

"S-So my brother's this governor?" He stuttered out.

"No, it's somebody else." Amity said, her voice barely more than a sigh.

"Your brother's his lieutenant or something." Maggie said harshly.

"Does he know I'm still with you?" Daryl asked, sounding as stunned as he looked.

Maggie and Amity both nodded in response.

"He does now." Glenn said, breathing hard. "Rick, I'm sorry. We told him where the prison was. We couldn't hold out."

"Don't." Rick stopped him, leaning down to pat his friend's leg. "No need to apologize."

"They're gonna be looking for us." Maggie told everyone as Rick moved back across the room to look out the window, Daryl still standing in a bit of shock.

Amity stood, leaving Glenn and Maggie to go over to the man who looked at her with something she couldn't place behind his gaze.

"He did this?" He asked quietly and Amity nodded.

"A lot of it." She confirmed.

"Which parts?" He questioned, but Amity's reply was cut off by Rick.

"We have to get back." The leader was saying. "Can you walk? We got a car a few miles out."

"I'm good." Glenn confirmed.

Michael moved to help Maggie get the man to his feet, looping the younger man's arm over his broad shoulders in an attempt to make the journey easier on him.

"H-Hey, if Merle's around, I need to see him." Daryl said suddenly, moving away from Amity and towards the door.

"Not now." Rick said flatly. "We're in hostile territory."

"He's my brother. I ain't-" Daryl began and Amity noted the look behind his eyes.

It was like the man had reverted back to how he must have been many years before. He looked different- younger, but weaker as well.

"Look at what he did!" Rick told him. "Look, we gotta- we gotta get out of here now."

"Maybe I can talk to him. Maybe I can work something out." Daryl insisted, his voice tight and a bit frantic.

"No, no, no. You're not thinking straight." Rick cut him off. "Look, no matter what they say, they're hurt. Glenn can barely walk. How are we gonna make it out if we get overrun by walkers and this governor catches up to us? I need you. _Amity_ needs you." He said, giving a pointed glance towards the redhead who was obviously battered as she returned to Glenn and Maggie's side, the pair having become a bit of a safety blanket to her after what they went through together.

Daryl saw something behind her eyes as they dropped away from the people near her, something that had his resolve hardening a bit in that moment.

He had promised himself that he would get her out, that he would save her, and he was going to.

Merle being involved just changed the path a little.

"Are you with me?" Rick asked him.

"Yeah." Daryl said, giving a confirming nod as he met his friend's eyes.

The trio that was captive, Glenn being all but carried by Michael, headed over to the door as Rick waved them closer.

"On three." Rick directed as Daryl readied a smoke bomb in his hand. "Stay tight."

"One, two, three."

The door was opened and Daryl tossed a smoke bomb into the street, retreating only to prep and throw another before they were all heading out of their hiding place and into the red zone.

Amity grasped at her injured arm, stumbling forward at Daryl's side as Michael drug Glenn along behind her with Maggie next to him.

It didn't take long for them to be spotted even amongst the smoke and then for gunshots to sound through the space.

Amity kept low, moving as quickly as she could while Rick, Michael, Oscar, and Daryl all covered them with return fire.

"Behind you!" The woman heard Daryl yell, turning her head to see him shooting at what looked to be Martinez and another man behind benches.

"Go! Get cover!" Rick yelled at them all, directing them out of the line of fire the best that he could as he and Daryl laid down heavy cover fire.

They all ducked into an alley, the men reloading their guns as Amity willed her heart not to beat out of her chest or cause her to bleed out even quicker than she had been before.

"How many?" Rick asked over the gunshots.

"I didn't see." Oscar yelled in return.

A bullet hit the ground close to Amity's foot, the woman jumping back with a small squeak of surprise just as Daryl's hand wrapped around her wrist and tugged her back behind him.

"Don't matter." The hunter said, cutting into the conversation as he continued to reload his weapons. "There's gonna be more of them. We need to move."

Amity felt something cool against her knuckles and took the familiar handgun that was pressed into her palm by her brother with gratefulness, feeling less powerless now that she had a weapon.

She wanted to find the leader of the group and shove the barrel of it down his throat, but there was no time for her revenge.

"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna lay down some cover fire." Daryl said, moving towards the entrance of the alleyway but Amity reached out and snagged the back of his vest, halting him.

"Now way." She hissed, holding his gaze.

"No, we gotta stay together." Maggie backed her up.

"Too hairy." Daryl insisted, looking at Amity.

"I'll be right behind you." He told her firmly, but his tone was off, and the woman swallowed back the tears that threatened to burst forward.

She was annoyed with herself for even thinking about getting emotional in their current situation but it had been a long fucking day.

And now he was lying, she had a sickening feeling churning in her stomach that he was lying in some way.

"If you're not, Dixon, I will personally kick your ass all the way from here to what's left of South America." Amity threatened, her words bringing a half-smile to the man's lips and she leaned up to press a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth despite those around them.

"Ready?" He called out to everyone after he had stepped away from her, heading towards the opening of the alley as he readied another smoke bomb.

"Move!" He yelled once he had thrown it and began to shoot, laying down the cover he had promised.

"Let's get out of here!" Rick yelled and they were running across the open street towards the fence.

"This way!" Amity heard Oscar shout and followed his voice over to the bus.

Oscar climbed on the hood of the vehicle, helping Glenn up who was passed to the man by Michael before he turned to do the same for Maggie.

Glenn had just made it to the roof of the bus when Oscar was shot, letting out a yell as he fell followed by Glenn's shouts for him.

"Oh God." Amity said to herself, before pushing away the loss, focusing on keeping Maggie moving up onto the bus and making Michael go ahead of her.

Her brother, of course, stopped on the hood though, reaching his hands down for her.

"I'm injured, not useless." Amity told him but accepted his help nonetheless as getting on top of the hood of the bus at her height, even without being shot, would have been a feat itself.

She stopped on the roof of the bus as her brother continued over the fence with Maggie and Glenn. She noted Rick beginning to climb up next to her and her blue eyes searched the smoke until she found the figure she was hunting for.

"Daryl!" She yelled, not caring about the attention she brought, but about the fact he was in the line of fire alone now.

"Daryl, come on!" She shouted at him but he didn't even look her way.

She fought against Rick who was now beside her, insisting the she keep going and get down on the other side of the fence but she refused.

Daryl said he would be right behind her.

Suddenly, Rick simply pushed her and she found herself free-falling, shock gripping her at her friend's actions until a familiar pair of arms caught her and her mind realized what had just happened.

She didn't even have time to get angry as Rick landed next to her and Michael, not even hesitating to catch his breath before directing them down around the edge of the woods and behind one of the abandoned cars at the entrance.

They all crouched, trying to stay hidden as they waited for the hunter to join them, willing none of the spotlights to turn their way.

"Come on, Daryl." Rick hissed and Amity shifted on the balls of her feet until the cracking of a twig had them whipping around, Rick rising to his feet as an unfamiliar woman crawled out from one of the train cars.

"Where the hell were you?" Rick hissed, cocking his gun as he approached with Michael at his side. The woman being someone that they apparently knew. "Put your hands up. Turn around."

Amity realized that this must have been the woman Maggie had mentioned earlier in the building.

She moved forward with Maggie, both of their guns trained on the unknown woman as Rick carefully slid her sword from its sheath.

"Get what you came for?" Rick asked, sounding bitter.

"Where are the rest of your people?" The woman asked as she leaned back against the car.

"They got Oscar." Glenn growled, now joining them with his gun raised.

"Daryl is missing." Maggie added harshly.

"You didn't see him?" Amity asked, not knowing this woman but needing to ask all the same.

"If anything happens to him-" Rick began but the woman cut him off.

"I brought you here to save them." She said slowly.

"Thanks for the help." Rick spat.

"You'll need help to get them back to the prison or to go back in there for Daryl. Either way, you need me." The woman insisted, her eyes looking a bit desperate.

* * *

Amity laid back against the paved road next to the Hyundai with her eyes shut.

She was pissed to be left behind during the rescue mission for Daryl, but she saw the sense in it.

She had been slowly losing blood all day though Glenn and her had doctored one another up the best that they could with the supplies in the car when they had gotten there.

She wasn't at her best, she could accept that, but she didn't have to be happy about it.

It felt like they had been waiting forever when the sound of branches breaking nearby had her pushing herself to her feet along with Glenn, the woman, Michonne as she learned, having never had sat down in the first place.

"Glenn!" She heard a familiar voice say.

"Rick." Amity breathed out and the trio was heading into the woods towards the sound of the man's voice.

"Oh, thank God." Amity breathed out as she spotted Daryl before her eyes wandered to the figure next to him, widening as Rick stepped forward.

"Now we got a problem here-" He began but the trio cut him off.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Glenn roared and Amity seconded that question.

"You made a bad fucking mistake, Dixon." Amity snapped, not letting the men know which one she was talking to as she cocked her gun and went to push past Michael who was trying to calm her.

"I promised myself that if I was free and near you then I would stomp your sorry ass!" She yelled, using one of Daryl's favorite phrases as she pointed her gun in Merle's direction until Daryl stepped in front of it, causing her to hesitate.

"Hey, put it down!" Daryl snapped, his eyes going between both Glenn and Amity who had their guns drawn.

"Put down the sword!" Rick told Michonne who didn't seem to be on board with that plan.

"He tried to kill me!" She shouted

"He _shot_ me!" Amity added, looking at Daryl directly as if challenging him to defend _that_.

"He helped us get out of there." Daryl insisted.

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you." Rick added.

"Hey, we both took our licks, man." Merle drawled and Amity lunged forward again, Michael not fighting her after hearing the man was the one that shot her, but Daryl caught her instead.

"Jackass." Daryl sneered at his sibling, his eyes returning to Amity as he firmly held her in place.

"Hey, shut up." Merle snapped from behind him before Michonne went for him once more.

"Enough!" Rick commanded her.

"Get that thing out of my face!" Daryl snapped from over Amity's shoulder, his eyes trained on Glenn who still had a gun pointed at Merle and indirectly, Daryl.

Merle started laughing at that, his eyes going between Amity and his brother before looking at Glenn.

"Man, looks like ya've gone native, brother." Merle chuckled.

"No more than ya hanging out with that psycho back there." Daryl snapped, letting go of Amity to turn towards his sibling who was now lounging against a tree.

"Oh, yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that." Merle agreed. "Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time, baby." He added, looking at Michonne, making crude mouth gestures.

"This is who you've been missing?" Amity asked Daryl in disbelief and the man turned to shoot a glare her way.

"Watch it, Red-" Merle began, but Michael cut him off, stepping up to Amity's side.

"No, you watch it, man." The oldest Walker snapped, obviously not pleased with the tone he had taken with his sister.

"What are you gonna do about it, Cowboy?" Merle snapped, but Daryl pushed him back with a hand to his chest.

"Man, just stop!" He told his brother.

"What?" Rick cut in to the impending argument, Merle looking between his brother and Michael with obvious annoyance.

"Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn questioned, sounding shocked.

"Right next to the Governor." Daryl confirmed, moving back a step as Michonne lunged forward with her sword.

Amity turned her gun on the woman as she moved, not knowing her enough to trust that she hadn't been trying to skewer the hunter but Rick intervened.

"I told you to drop that!" Rick snapped at Michonne and she lowered her sword. "You know Andrea? Hey, do you know Andrea?"

"Yep, she does." Merle answered for the woman. "Her and blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Mm-mm-mmm, yeah. My Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains." He explained. "Kind of ironic now that I think about it."

"Shut up, bro." Daryl yelled, seemingly as fed up with his brother as the rest of them were but Merle just chuckled at his anger.

"Hey, man, we snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying." Merle continued.

"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie asked, looking at Michonne.

"Yeah, snug as two little bugs." Merle said. "So what you gonna do now, Sheriff, huh?" He asked Rick. "Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards."

"Shut up!" Rick snapped at him, but that didn't stop Merle.

Amity wasn't sure that a fucking train could stop Merle.

"Oh, man, look at this." He sneered. "Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them."

"Merle, shut up!" Daryl yelled at him.

"Shut up yourself! Bunch of pussies you roll-" He began but was cut off by Rick bringing the butt of his gun down on the back of his skull, knocking him out cold.

"Oh, thank God." Amity said, letting out a breath of relief.

"Asshole." Rick tossed in Merle's direction after it was clear that Daryl wasn't going to fight him on his choice to knock the man out.

Amity stuck close to her brother's side as they moved from the forest to the road, gathering in a group to discuss what was to come next.

She didn't miss the look that Daryl sent her, trying to catch her eye as he reached out a hand to gently ghost across hers.

Her fingers intertwined with his for a moment, giving his hand a small squeeze to say something she didn't know how to put into words, but she dropped it once they had all gathered around.

"It won't work." Rick told Daryl.

"It's gotta." Daryl insisted.

"It'll stir things up." Rick said simply.

"Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle." Daryl reasoned.

"I'm not having him at the prison." Maggie said calmly as Glenn cut over her.

"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Amity or Beth?" Glenn asked the hunter.

"He ain't a rapist." Daryl snapped.

"Well, his buddy is." Glenn replied and both Amity and Maggie looked at him like he just kicked their puppy while Michael stiffened at Amity's side, catching the statement.

"What?" He asked, voice low but Daryl had pushed on, his blue eyes carefully watching Amity now.

"They ain't buddies no more. Not after last night." He said softly.

"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Rick tried to get him to understand.

"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?" Daryl asked angrily.

"She's not coming back." Rick told him.

"She's not in a state to be on her own." Maggie tried to reason.

"She did bring you guys to us." Glenn added.

"And then ditched us." Rick reminded them.

"At least let my dad stitch her up." Maggie insisted.

"She's too unpredictable." Rick countered and Amity sighed, the Walker siblings exchanging a look at the arguing though Michael's look was definitely heavier than Amity's.

"That's right. We don't know who she is. But Merle, Merle's blood." Daryl tried to reason.

"No, Merle is _your_ blood. My blood, my family, is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison." Glenn told the man.

"And you're part of that family." Rick interjected. "But he's not."

"Man, y'all don't know." Daryl said, his eyes going over to the woods where Merle had begun to stir.

"Fine." He stated after a moment of silence. "We'll fend for ourselves."

"That's not what I was saying." Glenn told him.

"No him, no me." Daryl said simply.

" _Daryl_." Amity said, her voice tight and his eyes were on hers immediately.

"Daryl, you don't have to do that." Maggie said quietly.

"It was always Merle and I before this." Daryl told them with a shrug, as if the situation was of no matter to him, but he didn't have the group fooled and he definitely didn't have Amity fooled.

"Don't." Amity cut him off and the group around them fell silent as she stepped forward, grabbing the front of his vest before dragging him away from the group none too gently.

Once they were out of earshot, Amity rounded on the man as he batted her hand away from where it had held onto him.

"You're just gonna leave like that?" She asked him, searching his eyes for something to tell her that he was just bluffing.

"If it was Michael, ya'd do the same thing." Daryl told her but Amity shook her head.

" _Michael_ would never make me choose." She snapped, before inhaling deeply through her nose, trying to calm herself.

"You can't... you can't just leave, Daryl." Amity said, her voice quiet as she looked up at him. "Not after everything. You can't just... do that."

"Do what?" He asked her, sounding confused.

"Come along during the apocalypse of all times and make me fall for you, trust and rely on you, to just... to just up and leave! People lose people everyday now because there is nothing they can do, but you're- you're choosing to leave me!" She told him, her voice raising a bit but she quickly tried to lower it, not exactly wanting their conversation to be public.

"I'm not choosing! I can't just abandon him. He's my _brother_." Daryl insisted and Amity shook her head.

"He shot me, Daryl. He drug us to that place and beat Glenn, threw a walker in with him, a-and left Maggie and I to whoever wanted to deal with us." She said, picking at the vest she was wearing that wasn't hers.

Quiet followed her words, blue eyes searching her face as her eyes dropped to the asphalt.

"What happened?" Daryl asked her, his voice soft as one of his rough hands gently cupped her cheek, tilting her eyes back up to his.

Amity shook her head, not ready to give a play-by-play of the events in Woodbury, not yet, and now maybe not ever as he would be the only one she could have imagine sharing it with.

He was the only one who wouldn't look at her with pity.

"Did they-" Daryl began, sounding a lot like Glenn had when he asked Maggie and Amity shook her head, stopping that thought in its tracks.

"Barely touched me- well, besides this." She said, gently touching the bruising covering one side of her face. "A lot of... looking and humiliation." She explained further, voice barely a whisper.

A moment of silence passed between them before Amity was on her toes, her lips pressing against Daryl's as she paid no mind to the blood or sweat or bruises that covered them both.

She just needed the comfort of him more than anything in that moment.

The man wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close against his chest as their lips melded perfectly together and they enjoyed one another's presence after what felt like ages apart, just to be separated once more.

Amity lowered herself back down, her eyes still on Daryl's as she gave him a sad smile.

"Go. I know... I _understand_ the family thing and you're right. I would do the same for Michael." She told him, watching his eyes widen a bit in surprise at her words.

He hadn't been expecting her to understand what he was grappling with, or to let him off the hook of making a choice.

Amity was right when she said that Michael would have never made her choose, her brother loved her too much to put her in that kind of position, and she cared for Daryl to much to do so either.

"Go with him, but Dixon-" She stated, making sure she had his full attention. "You'd better come back to us when you get some sense in that damn head of yours."

Daryl looked down at her, a hint of sadness behind his eyes as she reached up to gently caress his cheek.

"I'll miss your snoring." She joked lightly.

"I don't snore." He replied, making her smile.

"We need to get you back over there. Merle has risen and it's best you get to him before he gets antsy and goes to the others." Amity warned, looking around Daryl to see that Merle was fully on his feet and watching the pair.

As they came back towards the others, Amity noted that they all were looking at them with a bit of hope. They all expected her to have talked him into staying, not have given him free reign to do whatever he needed to do.

Amity knew better though.

She wasn't Daryl's keeper and she knew that he had to figure some things out for himself and one of those things just happened to be his asshole of a brother.

He would come back when he found his way again, she was certain of that.

"Say good-bye to your pop for me." Daryl said as they passed Maggie and Glenn.

"Daryl, are you serious?" Glenn asked, not expecting that to come from him. "Daryl!"

"Hey. _Hey_." Rick said, jogging up next to the pair and looking at Amity with a bit of confusion. "There's got to be another way."

"Don't ask me to leave him." Daryl told his friend. "I already did that once."

"We started something last night. You realize that, huh?" Rick asked as they rounded the back of the vehicle.

"No him, no me. That's all I can say." Daryl told him simply, pulling out his pack from the back of the car.

"Take care of yourself." Daryl directed Rick. "Take care of lil ass-kicker and Carl- he's one tough kid."

Daryl's eyes went to Amity next, scanning her face and lingering here and there before he nodded at her and she nodded back, fighting the tears that threatened to well in her eyes at the sight of him getting ready to walk away from her.

"Remember what I said." She told him softly, reaching out to gently touch his arm, his skin smooth under her fingertips and then he was gone, heading towards his brother who was smiling like he had just beat them out in some competition.

"Daryl!" Glenn yelled after him.

"Come on, bro." She heard Daryl say and Merle threw an arm around his shoulders, looking back at Rick with a smile that faltered a bit as his eyes moved to Amity.

Another moment and they were lost amongst the trees.

Amity took in a shaky breath, holding it before a sob accompanied her exhale.

"Come here." She heard from beside her and didn't hesitate to fall against Rick's sturdy form, her arms wrapping around his torso as she cried into his chest.

"We'll figure it out." Rick soothed, his hand resting on the back of her head as he held the woman. "We will."


	18. Chapter 18

The car jolted forward and Amity leaned heavily against Michael in the backseat, paying no mind to Michonne who was sat in the trunk of the Hyundai now that Maggie took up the other backseat and Glenn the passenger one.

She tried to focus on the gentle rise and fall of her brother's shoulders as he breathed rather than the fact they were leaving the man that Amity realized she could have quite possibly loved behind.

She felt a kiss be pressed into her dirty hair and was thankful for her brother's supportive presence as she intertwined her fingers with the man's, gripping his hand so tightly that she knew it had to hurt him, but he didn't complain.

Too soon the car was rolling to a stop and Amity lifted her head to see that there was a truck and a fallen tree in the middle of the road blocking their path.

"Of course." She muttered to herself, climbing out of the car behind her brother as they all went towards the truck to get it cleared.

"Get the brakes." Rick told them and Glenn moved to the driver's side, pulling the door open just to have a walker fall out.

Michael lunged forward as Rick did, both men ready to take out the undead but Glenn had already thrown it to the ground, stomping on its face with his industrial boots.

Amity watched with distant concern as the man completely demolished the skull of the walker, rage and fear taking him over as he did so.

It seemed that not one of them walked out of Woodbury unscathed- mentally or physically.

Rick cautiously approached the man and Amity rounded the truck, coming around the back tailgate to stand beside Maggie as they watched the men.

"You didn't kill him." Glenn said accusingly, his eyes holding Rick's.

"That's not why we went back." Rick reminded him.

"No. That's right. You went back for Daryl." Glenn scoffed, the name he threw out cutting through Amity like a hot knife. "And now he's gone again and the Governor is still alive."

"Daryl was the priority." Rick said simply.

"I should have been there with you." Glenn told him.

"You were in no condition." Rick reasoned.

"But my girlfriend was?" Glenn snapped, Maggie cutting him off.

"Glenn, this isn't about us." She said.

"I should have been there." Glenn insisted.

"Hey, hey, you didn't come back with us 'cause you could barely walk." Rick reminded him, looking over his injured state and treading carefully though Amity could see that Glenn wasn't going to come back to the Glenn they knew in only a few moments.

That place had changed them all.

"What about her?" Glenn asked, gesturing towards Maggie.

"What about me?" She questioned hotly.

"Do you know what he did to her?!" Glenn yelled. "To Amity?"

"Leave it alone!" Maggie yelled at him as Amity wrapped her arms around herself as if holding herself tightly physically would keep her together emotionally as well.

"Do you know?" Glenn asked again.

"Let's go." Maggie insisted, placing her hands on the truck's tailgate to show she was ready to get it moved.

"After all that effort, all the risk we took, Daryl just takes off with Merle?" Glenn continued, sounding betrayed.

"Well, he had his reasons." Rick told him.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Rick." Glenn sneered.

"Watch it, Glenn!" Amity snapped, knowing then and there that even if Daryl had left, she wasn't going to let his name be walked all over like he did something wrong. "He doesn't owe you or anyone else. If anything _we_ owe _him_ after a whole winter of feeding us and watching our asses!"

"What about you, Amity?" Glenn asked her harshly. "After everything his brother did to you and he just goes with him? And you're okay with that? You hug him and kiss him and just let him go on his way?"

"It's not any of your business." Amity said coldly, not believing that it was _Glenn_ who was saying these things to her.

The same Glenn that had been so happy about finding out about her and Daryl just a day or so before.

"It was my business when I was figuring out a way to get us out of there. It was my business when you and Maggie came back to me looking like- like anything could have happened." Glenn ranted, each word hitting Amity like a blow to the stomach but she held his gaze as he continued- she was done with being humiliated. "That's so messed up, Amity!"

"Leave it." Rick told him, his voice sharp and commanding.

"All of it doesn't change the fact that we're up to our necks in shit." Glenn said, looking at their leader once more.

"You want me to turn the car around, beg him to come back? Throw down a welcome mat for _Merle_?" Rick asked him, throwing a hand back towards the way that they came. "This is the hand we've been dealt!" He growled.

"Let's just get this out of here and get back." Maggie called over to them, trying to keep the peace. "Get some rest. We can talk it out there."

She laid her hands on the truck's tailgate once more and this time Amity joined her, Michael heading to the front of the truck to undo the breaks like Glenn had been going to.

"No, you guys do all the talking you want." Glenn said, looking between them all before turning to head back to the Hyundai. "I'm done."

Amity watched his back as he retreated, leaning slightly to brush her shoulder against Maggie's in hopes of providing a bit of comfort to the woman as Rick joined them and they pushed the truck off the road.

"Have we hit rock bottom yet?" Amity asked her brother as they headed back towards the Hyundai, the road now clear.

"I don't even think we're close, Bug." Michael replied, his voice a heavy sigh.

* * *

The redhead didn't shift from her spot against her brother's side as they rolled through the gates and stopped so that Rick could get out and Glenn could take over the wheel.

She watched as Carl and a woman came up and the sight of the woman's face had Amity stunned.

 _Carol?_

That was Carol.

She scrambled to push her brother out of the car, the man seemingly just realizing that his sister had no idea that the woman was alive as she threw herself into the older woman's arms.

"You're alive?" Amity asked, her question pointless but had Carol laughing lightly as she was clung to.

"I'm alive." She confirmed, reaching around the redhead to give Michael's hand a small squeeze while the younger woman still clung to her.

After Amity finally let go, still looking at her with a bit of shock, Carol peered around to look into the Hyundai behind them and her face suddenly dropped.

"Where's Daryl?" She asked and Amity's elation dissipated, all previous excitement and happiness washed from her.

Carol turned wide questioning eyes to her, expecting Amity of all people to give her an answer but Rick stepped in at the sight of Amity's expression.

"It's all right. He's alive." Rick told Carol, making sure she knew that right away. "We ran into his brother. They went off."

Carol looked from Rick back to Amity again, her expression softer and sadder.

"He left? Daryl left?" She asked and Amity nodded, fighting against the tears welling in her eyes.

"Is he coming back?" Carol asked and the redhead shrugged, not being able to give her a straight answer but Carol had already gathered her up in another embrace, hugging the only other woman that really cared for the hunter as she did. They both loved the man- in different ways maybe, but it was love all the same.

As they headed back towards the prison after a long moment of the two comforting one another, Amity grasped Carol's hand tightly in her own. The older woman stood under Michael's protective arm across her shoulders as Amity was led along by Rick's hand at the small of her back, both men watching to make sure they were as okay as they could be.

As they entered the concrete yard, Amity smiled as she was embraced by Beth, hugging the blonde tightly for a moment before the girl went to Rick, giving him a hug and a kiss to his cheek as a thank you.

Amity continued over to Hershel who looked her up and down with concerned calculating eyes.

"We're going to have to get you fixed up." Hershel told her and Amity nodded, not one to argue with that.

"Talk to Rick first- I'll be inside. I've been bleeding for this long, I'm sure I'll survive a few minutes more." She reasoned and Hershel shook his head at her.

"I'm not sure that's the way to look at it." The older man reasoned but Amity just smiled in return, giving him a small one-armed hug before continuing her way into the cellblock.

Entering the prison, Amity stumbled to a stop at the sight of a group of strangers in the common area.

She looked at them with wide blue eyes, turning to call out to someone but Carl stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"I found them in the tombs- they were being attacked." Carl explained and Amity looked at him for a long moment before shaking her head and returning her eyes to the group who were all now looking at her with open curiosity and wariness.

She knew she had to look a mess, but that wasn't a concern to her.

She looked like a survivor.

"Your dad's going to be thrilled." Amity said a bit dryly, holding the gaze of the younger african-american woman before turning to head towards the cellblock.

"They should know that now is not the time to misstep around here." She called back over her shoulder to Carl, knowing that the group would hear her as well as she went through the gate, pulling it closed behind her just as Rick and Hershel came through the outside door.

She waited at the door of the cellblock as the two men crossed the space between them without sparing the strangers a glance, Carl only stopping to lock the cellblock gate behind them.

"Let's get you fixed up." Hershel suggested to Amity, nodding towards his cell as Rick went towards Beth who was holding his daughter.

She followed the older man, moving to sit on the bed as he settled himself in a chair next to it, leaning his crutches against the nearby wall.

She retrieved his medical supplies from under his bunk, settling them on the bed as well and passing him what he asked for.

"The woman who led them to you had said you'd gotten shot." Hershel told her as he gently took the bandaging Glenn had done for her off and wiped the blood clear before getting ready to clean the wound. "Daryl almost went after you by himself right then." He revealed, making the woman press her lips together in response.

"It was a clean shot through- that makes this easier." He informed her about her injury and she nodded, only letting out a hiss of pain as he dabbed alcohol on the wound to clean it.

"I saw he didn't come back with everyone- Rick mentioned Merle, that's his brother, right?" Hershel continued and Amity began to wonder if blood poisoning would be worth it if it got her out of this conversation.

"In my experience-" The man began as he started to thread a needle to be able to give the couple of stitches that she would need. "-people get lost sometimes. They begin a new path, maybe a better one, maybe worse, but their old habits are hard to lose and they'll get pulled off that path."

Amity whimpered lightly as the needle pierced her skin for the first time, closing her eyes as the former vet continued. "The great thing about determined people, and good men like Daryl, is that in the end their hearts are what guide them." He fell silent as he finished the entry wound stitches and tied them off, shifting to get a better angle and beginning the stitches on the exit wound.

"That man has one of the strongest hearts I've come across." Hershel told her and Amity's eyes reopened, the pain of the stitches fading into the back of her mind as she watched Hershel's expression as he spoke.

"And there's no doubt in my mind that you have it." He finished, tying off the other stitches as he did so before looking up to meet the redhead's eyes.

"You hold his heart and that means that he's going to come back to you. I'm not going to pretend to know how long that'll take- and it doesn't mean that you've got to let him back in- but he'll try." Hershel said, holding her gaze before he skillfully wrapped a clean bandage around her arm, securing it before patting her knee. "You're all done."

Amity rose to her feet at that, hesitating a moment before looking down at the man still seated and offering a small smile his way.

"Thank you, Hershel- for everything." She said quietly and the man returned the smile, giving her a small nod before she continued on her way out of his cell.

She found Carol at the top of the stairs moments later and settled next to her on the railing as they watched the rest of the group mill about in silence, both of them dealing with their loss and seeking no more than one another's presence to help with it.

Just as both women reached to start folding some laundry, Beth wandered up the stairs with the baby held in her arms.

"She got a name yet?" Amity asked the young blonde who smiled brightly at the question.

"Carl named her Judith." She informed her and Amity smiled softly then as well.

"That's a pretty name." She said and both Beth and Carol nodded their agreement.

"You've got a knack for that." Carol informed the young girl.

"Just trying to do my part." She replied with a small shrug.

"Sophia used to wake the neighbors. Like clockwork. Ed stayed at a friend's most nights till she calmed down." Carol told them and Amity smiled softly at that- Ed was an ass, but it was clear how much Carol had adored her daughter.

"I always wanted a child." Beth admitted, bouncing the bundle in her arms before looking at Amity. "Do you?"

Amity felt herself retreat a bit within herself before she forced her head to nod, not missing the look Carol gave her.

"Why didn't you ever have any?" Beth wondered and Amity let out a sigh.

It was something she had come to terms with long ago, but the past few emotional days were taking its toll on her and making touchy subjects harder to handle than usual.

"I can't- a birth defect prevents me from having any. Well, that's one of the reasons at least. Another is that I never had time for a dog, let alone a baby." She explained, trying to keep her answer lighthearted but she still noted the sadness in both of the women's gazes.

Amity busied herself with folding one of Rick's shirts while silence surrounded them for a moment, hanging in the air before Beth broke it.

"She wouldn't have made it if Daryl hadn't been here." Beth said, trying to move on and provide both women a bit of comfort. "He couldn't stand to lose anyone else."

"Sounds like him." Carol agreed with a small smile.

"I don't see why he had to leave." Beth continued, bouncing Judith lightly as Amity pushed a hand through her tangled red locks the best she could. "Merle sounds like a jerk."

"Merle is a jerk." Amity confirmed.

"Men like Merle get into your head." Carol cut in. "Make you feel like you deserve the abuse."

"Even for Daryl?" Beth wondered.

Amity thought back to when they were hiding in the building in Woodbury- to the look that was on Daryl's face when he realized that his brother was alive and nearby. Merle had him messed up in the head- thinking he could rely on no one but his brother in the world. It was an action of an abuser that was repeated over and over in cases of domestic violence. Amity had read the signs many times before in many different case studies.

It wasn't the same as living it though.

Nothing came close and Amity knew that while she understood the family bond that would make Daryl go with his brother- Carol understood a whole deeper side of it.

Amity wasn't mad at the hunter. She tried to keep herself from being angry once she said she understood, because she truly did, but now she definitely wasn't.

She missed him. She hated leaving him behind, but now she just hoped that he found his way- not for herself or even the group, but for him.

"I'm hardly the woman I was a year ago-" Carol began, pulling Amity out of her thoughts. "-but if Ed walked through that door right now breathing and told me to go with him, I'd like to think I'd tell him to go to hell."

"You would." Amity confirmed with a nod, looking at her friend.

She had no doubts about Carol's strength.

"It doesn't matter." The woman said in response, shaking her head lightly as she began to sort through the laundry they had been neglecting.

"We're weak without him." Beth stated fiercely.

Mentally, Amity had to agree- she _felt_ weak without him.

"We can handle it." She said instead of admitting such a thing.

She wouldn't let herself become weak without him.

"We'll get through this too." Carol insisted. "Tyreese and his friends seem capable."

"I'm pissed at him for leaving." Beth stated.

"Don't be." Amity told her, the young girl falling silent at her words.

"Daryl has his code." Carol added. "This world needs men like that."

With that being said, Amity moved forward to press a kiss to the top of Judith's head, avoiding eye contact with both of the other two as she retreated into her cell.

She collapsed back on the bunk, looking up through the bare slates above her to the ceiling and ignored the spare set of boots that had been left in the corner of her room. A pair that were obviously too big to fit her- or the sleeveless flannel draped across the side of her sink where it had been abandoned one morning.

Slowly the woman had been convincing Daryl to stay with her at night more and more, but now she was regretting it as the room showed as much and the sight tore at her chest.

Rolling over, she buried her face in her pillow, pretending that the smell of him on it was just a figment of her imagination as she let out a shuddering breath, refusing to cry as she fought against the emotion threatening to overwhelm her.

She wouldn't be weak.

She _couldn't_ be weak.

She would get through this whether he came back or not.

She had to.

* * *

Allowing some time to herself, Amity laid in her bunk until she heard multiple voices in the bottom area of the cellblock and knew that she needed to join them all.

With a quiet groan, she moved from her cell, readjusting the shirt she had changed into before she made her way out onto the walkway and down the stairs, ignoring how everyone's eyes turned to her as she did so.

Michael held out an arm for her to step under and Amity gave him a pressed smile of reassurance in response, but went to Maggie's side instead as the younger woman came out of one of the cells.

"He went out fighting." Rick was saying to Axel and she assumed they were talking about Oscar.

"So what now? You think the Governor will retaliate?" Beth asked, moving towards the group as Amity had.

"Yes." Maggie said without hesitation and Amity's stomach churned at the thought before a bit of anger flared within her.

"Let him try." Glenn growled and Amity nodded in agreement, meeting Glenn's gaze as he threw a surprised look her way at the action.

"Sounds like he's got a whole town. We're outnumbered and outgunned." Carol said quietly.

"We could use some reinforcements." Hershel reasoned.

That is how Amity found herself following along behind Rick as they moved from the cellblock to the common area where their visitors sat.

The small group immediately rose as Rick approached them, the giant African-American man offering out his hand to the leader.

"I'm Tyreese." He said, hesitating a moment before dropping his hand as Rick didn't take it.

"Sasha, Allen, Ben." Hershel spoke up, pointing with one of his crutches at the woman, the other man, and the younger boy in order.

"How'd you get in?" Rick questioned.

"Fire damage to the administrative part of the prison. Wall's down." The large man, Tyreese, explained.

"That side's completely overrun with walkers." Rick said in response. "How'd you get this far?"

"We didn't." Tyreese corrected him. "We lost our friend Donna."

"They were lost in the gyms." Carl interjected.

"You brought them here?" Rick asked, his voice hard as he turned to his son.

"He had no choice." Hershel cut in, sparing Carl any of his father's annoyance.

Rick considered that for a moment before nodding, turning back to the other group in front of him.

"I'm sorry about your friend. We know what that's like." He said, offering his condolences.

"Hershel said you could use some extra hands. We're no stranger to hard work. We'll go out and get our own food, stay out of your hair. You got a problem with another group, we'll help with that, too. Anything to contribute." Tyreese said surely and Amity nearly smiled at that.

She liked the man, for some reason he had a look about him that negated the fact he was such an obvious physical threat and put her at ease. He had honesty all but written across his forehead. He reminded her of her brother in a way.

"No." Rick said quietly, breaking Amity out of her consideration of the apparent leader of the other group and making her eyes return to Rick.

"Please." Sasha spoke up. "It's like _10 Little Indians_ out there. It's just us now."

Rick looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"No." He reiterated.

"Let's talk about this. We can't just keep-" Hershel began but Rick cut him off.

"We've been through this." The leader told him. "With Tomas, Andrew- look what happened."

"Axel and Oscar weren't like them." Carol reminded the man.

"And where's Oscar now?" Rick asked, raising his voice.

"Rick-" Amity started but the man spoke over her.

"I can't be responsible." He said, turning back to look at Tyreese.

"You turn us out, you are responsible." Tyreese stated.

"Rick." Hershel said, his tone showing that he wanted the man to come to him.

The two men stepped to the side, but they were still clearly heard by the rest of the people in the space.

"You've done so much for us. I appreciate that. We all do. We owe you our lives. We've done everything you asked without question... and I'm telling you you're wrong on this. You've got to start giving people a chance." Hershel told their leader, holding his gaze as he spoke.

It seemed like he had Rick convinced and Amity was touched by the respect the former sheriff held for the older man. Rick nodded, letting out a heavy sigh before his eyes seemed to be drawn to the walkway above them.

Amity's brows furrowed as she watched him try to play it off, looking back to Hershel before looking up once more and muttering to himself.

It was then that the redhead looked up and over her shoulder, seeing nothing on the balcony which had her moving towards the two men as Rick's mutterings got louder.

"No, no, no, no." He said before he was stalking across the space, Amity stepping in front of him once he began to call out to open air.

"Why are you here?" Rick yelled. "What do you want from me?"

"Dad?" Carl asked quietly.

"Rick, look at me." Amity requested but the man's eyes never wavered from the balcony.

Hallucinations- the man was seeing something that wasn't there, these images perhaps born from stress or grief.

"Why are you- no. I can't help you." Rick declared.

"Get out!" He snapped, walking through to the middle of the small crowd of people.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Tyreese soothed, obviously put on edge by the man's erratic behavior.

"Rick, I need you to look at me." Amity said, moving to stop the man's pacing with a hand on his arm but he turned to her, yelling in her face and drawing his gun.

"You don't belong here! Get out! Please!" He yelled and Amity jumped, but didn't move from her place until Michael tugged her out of harm's way.

She wasn't afraid of Rick, even in this state.

This was the kind of thing she had dealt with many times before over the course of her career- sure, it was rare that the person had a gun, but it was new world now. Everyone always had a gun.

"Get out! Get out!" He shouted as Amity tried to shake off her overprotective sibling's hold.

"We'll leave. We're going." Tyreese spoke up. "Okay? Ain't nobody got to get shot here."

Amity wanted to tell them that it wasn't them he was yelling at, but as Rick lunged towards them she figured it was actually best that they did leave.

If he was this unstable then he only needed to be around those he trusted and those that truly cared about him.

"Go! Go!" Glenn called out to the other group, gesturing them out the main door before following behind them.

Amity slipped out of Michael's grasp once the others were clear and again approached Rick, gently keeping a hand out to move the gun from her direction if he spun on her.

"Rick, come on." She said softly, her voice kept even and soothing."I need you to listen to me, okay? We're going to take a walk- just you and me. No one else. Everyone, and I mean _everyone_ , who is in here is going to stay."

She emphasized her words for Rick more than anyone else in the room. She knew she didn't have to tell the group more than once to leave this to her, but by saying everyone would be staying she hoped that it would get through to Rick's mind as well so that who he was seeing, who he thought was real, would stay as well.

"Come on." She insisted, wrapping an arm around his waist and leading them towards the rest of the prison, planning on taking a detour to get outside.

The pair walked in silence for a long while, the man rubbing a hand over his face repeatedly as if trying to gather his head and Amity let him. He was confused, scared even, and she understood that.

As they crossed over one of the large walkways, the woman finally broke the silence.

"Who is it?" Amity asked him, her arm looped casually through his as they walked.

He was on a knife's edge between reality and his hallucinations so she was hoping something as solid and real as touch would keep him on their side.

"Lori." He said quietly, their heavy boots making the metal of the walkway rattle as they crossed it. "But it's been Shane too... in Woodbury, I thought I saw him..."

Amity nodded her head, letting silence pass between them a moment more.

"This isn't unusual, you know?" She told him, bracing her free hand on the railing of the stairs as they went down a flight. "Oftentimes people's brains get worn down with exhaustion or stress, grief or guilt, and they begin to see things that aren't there- or hear things that aren't there. Sometimes its considered a coping method and sometimes it just means that you haven't even tried to address the issues."

Rick glanced over at her for a moment, but she kept her eyes on the path in front of them as gravel now crunched under their shoes.

"The problem is grieving in this world... it isn't the same as it used to be. It seems like there isn't enough time for things like emotions, but we're still human." Amity said, readjusting her grip on his arm. "You need to come to terms with all that's happened, Rick-"

"I know you think you have." She added as he went to speak. "But it is clear that you haven't, or at least not in the way that you need to."

They made it to the gate and Amity paused, turning to face him before they went back the way they came.

"With that being said, the most immediate thing is ensuring both the safety of yourself and the group. Distinguishing reality from what you are seeing that isn't real is important." Amity reasoned before gently laying a hand against the man's cheek to grab his full attention.

"Do you trust me, Rick?" She asked him and he looked confused.

"Yes."

"Do you completely and utterly trust me? Do you know for a fact that I would never lie to you? That I would tell you exactly what's what?"

"Yes." Rick said again after a moment's hesitation.

Amity believed that he believed his affirmation.

"Then trust me to help you with this- with knowing what is real and what's in your head as a product of the diathesis and stress." She requested. "If I know you're seeing something that isn't there, I will tell you. I will never lie and I will never take advantage of this. In return, if you are unsure if something is real or not- _ask_. Again, I will never lie to you."

Rick looked down at her with an unsteady gaze, obviously unsure about the arrangement. He kept his struggles fairly close to himself so she knew it was hard for him to let anyone into that.

"Rick, you said you trusted me." She reminded him and finally the man nodded, agreeing that he did indeed say that as well as the arrangement.

"You'll get through this, Rick. You will." Amity told him, dropping her hand from his cheek to his shoulder to give it a small comforting squeeze. "You're not alone."

* * *

"There ain't nothin' out here but mosquitoes and ants." Daryl stated, annoyed with the situation as he kept watch while his brother peed on a nearby tree.

"Patience, little brother. Sooner or later, a squirrel is bound to scurry across your path." Merle replied, sounding completely at ease which served to irritate Daryl that much more.

His mind couldn't get off the prison, the group that he had left behind, and Amity's parting words to him.

"Even so, that ain't much food." Daryl reasoned.

"More than nothin'." Merle countered.

 _"Remember what I said."_ Amity had told him before he walked away from her.

Daryl couldn't forget it, just like he couldn't forget the feeling of her sleeping against his chest or her lips on his own.

He couldn't get her out of his damn head.

"I'd have better luck going through one of them houses we passed back on the turnoff." Daryl suggested, readjusting his grip on his crossbow.

"Is that what your new friends taught you? Hmm?" Merle asked, the sound of his footsteps approaching behind him and Daryl kept his eyes trained on the forest floor. "How to loot for booty?"

"We've been at it for hours." Daryl said simply, trying to keep anything that would give his thoughts on his 'new friends' away out of his tone. "Why don't we find a stream, try to look for some fish?"

"I think you're just trying to lead me back to the road, man. Get me over to that prison." Merle said, crouching down as Daryl leaned back against a tree, still not looking at the older man.

"They got shelter. Food. A pot to piss in." Daryl reasoned.

"Your bitch." Merle added on the end and Daryl shot a glare his way.

"Don't call her that." He warned.

"Give it a rest, Darylina. She's got ya by your sack, boy." Merle said, a mix between amused and annoyed at his little brother.

"Shut up, Merle." Daryl snapped. "It might not be a bad idea."

"Well it might be a great ole arrangement over there for you, maybe. Got ya some ass and everything else, but it ain't gonna be no damn party for me." Merle growled, sounding annoyed.

"Everyone will get used to each other." The younger man said, his voice softer than it had been.

"They're all dead." Merle told him flatly, causing Daryl to stiffen a bit. "Makes no difference."

"How can you be so sure?" He asked the other man. The thought of the prison being attacked, of everyone he cared about being dead, was enough to have him feeling sick to his stomach.

"Right about now he's probably hosting a housewarming party where's he gonna bury what's left of your pals." Merle said as Daryl white-knuckled his crossbow.

"Let's hook some fish." The oldest Dixon suggested, walking off and leaving Daryl with no choice but to follow.

* * *

Wandering about the prison's kitchen, Amity took the time she had alone to tidy up and reorganize the place in an attempt to get her mind off of everything.

She rearranged the food in the pantry, a place they started using again once Oscar and Axel officially joined their ranks, then began to sweep the space with an old broom.

The redhead was considering how they could get the stoves running once more, though in the meantime she figured her trick with the fire in the sink and the grill irons across the top of it was a pretty good system.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed down the hall outside of the cafeteria and Amity found herself drawing the gun from her belt even before she moved from the kitchen to the eating space.

Michonne came around the corner through the door, looking relieved once she saw the woman.

"Rick is... he's doing it again." The woman said and Amity holstered her gun as she rushed to her side.

"Where?" She asked but Michonne just turned and headed back out into the corridor so Amity followed until they were stepping outside and Amity could see their leader outside of the fence, standing on a small wooden bridge with his hand raised like he was touching someone.

Amity thanked Michonne before she booked it down the yard, closing the unlocked gates behind her as she went.

Finally she was closer and slowed her pace as she approached the bridge.

She noted that Rick angled his head slightly towards her as she came up, apparently hearing her approach, and it was then that his face fell.

The redhead stopped a few feet from him and watched as the man's hand dropped heavily to his side all of a sudden.

"Is she real?" He asked quietly and Amity felt her heart break in her chest, sympathy for the grieving and confused man overtaking her.

"No." Amity told him firmly and the man nodded as if he knew all along, his shoulders slumping as the weight of the world seemed to fall back onto him.

She moved forward at the sight, slowly wrapping her arms around his waist from behind him as he still faced the woods and rested her forehead against his back, just holding him as tremors shook his body.

"You're not alone. I'm real." Amity muttered against his back, holding him a bit tighter as a soft sob finally escaped him.

* * *

"Hmm, smells to me like the Sawhatchee Creek." Merle announced as the two brothers made their way further through the woods.

"We didn't go west enough." Daryl argued, shaking his head. "There's a river down there, it's got to be the Yellow Jacket."

"Ya have a stroke, boy? We ain't never even come close to Yellow Jacket." Merle countered.

"We didn't go west. Just a little bit south. That's what I think." Daryl reasoned.

"Know what I think? I may have lost my hand, but ya lost your sense of direction." Merle told the younger man, chuckling a bit to himself.

"Yeah, we'll see." Daryl said simply.

"What do ya want to bet?" Merle asked, looking over at the man with a teasing smile.

"I don't wanna bet nothin'." Daryl replied. "It's just a body of water. Why's everything got to be a competition with you?"

"Whoa, whoa." Merle said, trying to soothe his nerves. "Take it easy, little brother. Just trying to have a little fun here. No need to get your panties all in a bundle."

Daryl wasn't paying attention to his brother's ramblings anymore though, he was too focused on the sound that had echoed through the forest as Merle jabbered on.

"You hear that?" Daryl asked him, looking around for the source of the noise as it sounded again.

"Yeah, wild animals getting wild." Merle dismissed.

"No, it's a baby." Daryl corrected.

"Oh, come on. Why don't ya just piss in my ear and tell me it's raining, too? That there's the sound of a couple of coons making love, sweet love. Know what I mean?" Merle said, swiveling his hips suggestively with a laugh as Daryl simply brushed past him.

He knew that sound better than anything now that Judith had come along and he wasn't going to let his brother convince him otherwise.

Daryl ducked through some underbrush, coming out along the bank of the river and spotting a group of people up on the bridge trying to fight their way through a mess of walkers. A whistle sounded from next to him and the man turned to see Merle watching the proceedings with amusement.

"Hey! Jump!" The older man called out and Daryl sent him a look before moving past him again.

"What?" Merle asked after the man, not understanding what he was annoyed about before realizing Daryl was heading off towards the group.

"Hey, man, I ain't wasting my bullets on a couple of strangers that ain't never cooked me a meal or felicitated my piece." Merle called after him, following at a much slower pace. "That's my policy. You'd be wise to adopt it, brother."

Daryl ignored the man and focused on getting up to the bridge to help the people that were being cornered there. The group that had at least one child and that thought had him moving a bit faster.

As he reached the bridge, he noted that there were walkers gathered around a car a few yards away where the sound of the baby's crying was coming from, but he focused first on the two males that were up on a bit of a perch, one with a walker attached to his leg.

Daryl made quick work of sending an bolt through the geek's head before it bit the man then he reloaded and did the same to another. The guys hadn't moved though so he kept pressing forward, shoving one of his arrows through another undead's brain before yelling over his shoulder at them.

"Come on, man. I'm trying to help you out. Cover me!" He called before skewering a walker that was clawing at the vehicle as the older man climbed down from the perch and shot a walker.

Daryl continued to push forward, shooting walker after walker and slamming the skull of one that had been at the driver's side window of the car with the butt of his crossbow to silence it.

He realized quickly that there was a walker climbing in through the back that had been left open and quickly rushed around, grabbing the thing by its legs and yanking it out with all of his might before slamming its head in the trunk door.

He kept moving around the car, needing to grab up one of his arrows but there was a walker in his path.

"Daryl! I got ya!" Merle yelled out and Daryl met the man's eyes before stepping aside as he shot the geek in the head. "Go!"

The younger Dixon wasted no time in moving and snatching up one of his bolts and using it to shoot another walker through the head.

Taking a deep breath, he turned and noted that while Merle had been willing to help him, he still wasn't offering the same courtesy to the other people on the bridge so the hunter moved swiftly forward to where one of the men, the older one, was fist-fighting a walker and made quick work of shoving his hunting knife through its forehead.

He kicked it off the bridge, watching it fall into the water with a bit of satisfaction before looking to the man, holding his gaze for a moment then turning to walk away and collect the rest of his arrows.

His attention was caught by the man rushing swiftly over to the car though, and he slowly moved forward as well when he realized his brother was leaning into the backseat.

"Slow down, amigo." Merle drawled out, pointing his gun in the man's direction. "That ain't no way to say thank you."

Daryl listened to the man and the other younger man exchange a few quick sentences in Spanish before he looked at his brother, not pleased with his actions.

"Let 'em go." Daryl told Merle flatly and waited until his brother put his gun down to move around the back of the car.

"The least they can do is give us an enchilada or something, huh? Easy does it, señorita. Everything's gonna be fine." Daryl heard Merle say as he came around the vehicle, watching the situation as the younger boy ran up but was stopped by the older man.

Nothing about the situation sat right with Daryl. He didn't run up to the bridge to do anything but help the people because they needed it and here was Merle seeking reward when he didn't do shit.

Daryl had saved the family just to be endangering them again by taking their supplies when their weapon stash was obviously already low.

He met the eyes of the man he had saved, the guy obviously being the father of the baby and the significant other of the woman in the car. He wrestled with himself for a moment before raising his crossbow and pointing it at Merle's back who was still bent over digging through the backseat.

"Get out of the car." Daryl said gruffly and watched as Merle paused.

"I know you're not talking to me, brother." Merle said.

"Get in your car and get the hell out of here." Daryl yelled at the two men now that Merle had stopped and was looking back at him. "Go! Get in your car! Go!"

He held the crossbow steady as his brother stood and the two men rushed to do as Daryl said, Merle now coming eye to eye with the arrow directed at him while he closed the car door behind him.

Both men stood stiff until the car was pulling away from them and Merle was pushing the crossbow from his face, which Daryl lowered to his side almost immediately before swiftly lifting it over Merle's head as he turned. He started heading to grab his pack and going back the way they came, collecting arrows as he went.

It took a moment for his brother to catch up to him at the pace Daryl was storming off at, but soon enough the man was behind him once they were back in the woods.

"The shit you doing, pointing that thing at me?" Merle asked him harshly.

"They were scared, man." Daryl said simply.

"They were rude is what they were. Rude and they owed us a token of gratitude." The older Dixon insisted and Daryl had to resist rolling his eyes at his tone.

"They didn't owe us nothin'." He countered.

"Ya helpin' people out of the goodness of your heart? Even though ya might die doing it? Is that something your Sheriff Rick taught ya?" Merle questioned as he followed Daryl, sounding pissed about more than just the situation at hand.

"There was a baby!" Daryl yelled, rounding on the older man.

"Oh, otherwise you would have just left them to the biters then?" Merle asked, his question holding more than what was said.

"Man, I went back for you." Daryl snapped, picking up on what his brother was hinting at. "You weren't there! I didn't cut off your hand neither. _You_ did that. Way before they locked you up on that roof. You asked for it."

Merle looked slightly shocked at Daryl for a moment before he chuckled humorlessly, pacing closer to the younger man.

"You know what's funny to me?" He asked his brother. "You and Sheriff Rick are like this now, right?" He questioned, holding up his hand and crossing his index and middle finger. "I bet ya a penny and a fiddle of gold that ya never told him that we were planning on robbing that camp blind."

"It didn't happen." Daryl said lowly.

"Yeah, it didn't 'cause I wasn't there to help you." Merle snapped.

"What, like when we were kids, huh?" Daryl growled, moving to get in his brother's face. "Who left who then?"

"What? Is that why I lost my hand?" Merle shouted.

"Ya lost your hand 'cause you're a simpleminded piece of shit." Daryl spat before stalking away, only to be dragged back by his brother's hand on the collar of his shirt.

He felt the worn cloth give away as he stumbled to the ground, his back exposed to the air and he knew as everything grew quiet that Merle's eyes were on the scars that decorated his flesh.

He smacked the other man's hands away, trying to pull the fabric back into place the best he could.

"I- I didn't know he was-" Merle began, but Daryl cut him off as he swung his pack onto his back to hide the dark purple scars marring his flesh.

"Yeah, he did." Daryl said, gathering his things as he tried to keep the emotion out of his voice. "He did the same to you. That's why ya left first."

"I had to, man. I would have killed him otherwise." Merle tried to explain, but Daryl was already on his feet.

He was tired of the excuses. Tired of the bullshit idea that his blood was the only people he could count on when he could never really count on them in the first place.

He had left something good back at the prison, people who cared about him for reasons more than just the fact they shared the same DNA.

He left good friends like Carol and Rick and Michael.

He left Amity.

 _Amity_.

She was a mind reader, he would swear it. She somehow knew what he needed and what was going to happen and he just... he walked away from her.

Now, he was going back.

Daryl headed away from his brother and towards the direction that he knew his home laid.

"Where ya going?" Merle called after him.

"Back where I belong." Daryl yelled back, turning to look at the man.

"I can't go with you." Merle told him. "I-I tried to kill that black bitch. Damn near killed the Chinese kid. Shot your girl."

"He's Korean." Daryl said, not arguing the point that Amity wasn't his anything.

"Whatever. Doesn't matter, man. I just can't go with you." Merle said, sounding unsure.

"Ya know-" Daryl began, bitterness gathering in his chest as he gestured towards the man with the arrow in his hand. "I may be the one walking away, but you're the one that's leaving- _again_."

With that, Daryl left his brother behind him.

He wasn't going to play his games anymore, wasn't going to follow after him like a kicked dog that always came back.

He was done.

He wasn't nobody's bitch- and he was making choices for himself.

* * *

The sounds of the forest soothed Amity as her and Rick walked through the woods that bordered the prison, Rick's eyes roving wildly while Amity's gaze was more steady as she looked at the trees.

"Rick!" She heard called in the distance and recognized the voice of Hershel.

She nudged the former sheriff at her side and nodded back towards the bridge causing Rick to nod.

As the man went towards Hershel, Amity took another route and headed back into the fences to give the two their privacy.

She made her way up the gravel path and paused when she saw Michonne stood by the overturned bus.

"Hey." The redhead greeted, getting a nod in return.

"Thanks for coming to get me about Rick." Amity said, moving to lean against the bus alongside the woman.

"Something needed to be done and it seemed like you were the go-to for that situation." Michonne replied, looking over to her with calculating eyes.

"Why is that?" She asked and Amity gave her a small smile, trying to not be as much as a bitch towards the stoic woman as she was sure she had been while grieving Daryl's leaving.

"Before all of this I was a clinical neuropsychologist." Amity explained.

"Impressive." Michonne said and Amity shrugged her shoulders.

"The big words make it sound more impressive than it was, but I loved it." She said with a small sigh, looking towards Michonne to ask her about her life before everything but a shot pierced the air and had both women dropping to find cover behind the bus.

"What the fuck?" Amity hissed out, pulling her gun from her belt and looking for the source of the shot, freezing when she spotted the man standing outside the fence by a big pickup truck with a gun pointed towards the prison.

The Governor.

That's what she learned he was called, but she just thought of him as the asshole who she owed a lot of pain to.

Amity immediately aimed her gun the man's way before missing her shot completely when a barrage of bullets came raining down on the two women who had to take better cover behind the bus.

The redhead exchanged a look with the swordswoman at her side and they both realized they were stuck where they were.

"Aim for the Governor, I've got the bastard in the tower." Amity directed and Michonne nodded, ducking around the bus to rain hell down over the men at the truck as Amity struggled to take out the dick who climbed their tower without getting herself shot... again.

The Governor had Michonne ducking back around the bus every few seconds, doing well to keep the two pinned down until the rumble of an engine in the distance was heard and Amity found herself preying it was Glenn, who had left while Rick and herself were in the woods, returning.

Luck, or God, wasn't on her side it seemed as the Governor's men ceased fire and an unfamiliar van smashed through their gates, Amity and Michonne only leaping out of the damned thing's way at the last second to avoid being flattened.

It roared through the yard before it came to a stop, silence accompanying its abrupt action until the tailgate of it released and fell to the ground with a clang.

There was a moment's pause before the familiar sound of walkers reached the redhead and hordes of them began to stumble of the van.

"Oh _shit_." She cursed, ducking as someone hopped out of the van in full body armor and shot a couple of times at both her and Michonne.

Amity turned her gun on the person, smiling wickedly when her shot tore through the person's thigh.

The attacker stumbled and let out a cry of pain but pressed on, shooting towards Amity with a bit more malice now until they were safe outside of the gates with their people.

Once the Governor was climbing back in his truck, apparently satisfied with the destruction he created, Amity made a run for Hershel who was fending for himself since he was stuck out at the fence where she had left Rick with him earlier.

She shot a few walkers that stumbled too close, letting out a small groan of frustration as her gun clicked to tell her it was empty and she resorted to using it like a hammer, smashing in the skull of a female walker trying to gnaw at her face.

The woman was still basically one-armed so once Michonne appeared at her weak side, slicing through walkers left and right, she couldn't help but feel a bit relieved.

Both women fought their way towards Hershel who was hanging off of Glenn who had just come back in the truck.

Better late than never Amity supposed.

The redhead raced to the older man's other side, helping lift him into the passenger seat with Glenn before throwing herself into the back of the truck along with Michonne.

Glenn climbed into the driver's seat and roared up the yard towards the gate, pulling through just before Carl and Carol were shutting it behind them.

Once they stopped, Amity let out a big breath and climbed from the vehicle, returning the tight hug she was pulled into by her brother as soon as her feet hit pavement.

"I'm alright, Mikey." She reassured the man, staying in his arms as they turned to look out over the infested yard.

The prison wasn't their safe haven anymore.

The Governor had ruined that too.

She chewed on her lip as they all stood in silence, mourning the loss of their safety until Rick was coming in through another part of the yard and Amity slipped out of Michael's hold to jog over to him with a small smile, her steps and expression only faltering once she caught sight of the two people behind him.

 _He came back._

Amity had her doubts that he would though she said differently to anyone who questioned it- she couldn't help it. She had felt so alone after he had walked away... but there he was.

The pair stood looking at one another, Merle eyeing his brother while Rick watched Amity with a bit of caution mixed with concern, but neither Daryl not Amity paid them any mind as they held one another's gaze- cornflower meeting Georgia blue.

Then the woman was sprinting, launching herself into the sturdy arms of the surprised hunter and wrapping herself tightly around his torso, ignoring the pain in her newly stitched wounds.

He didn't stiffen under her touch, not that time. No, he simply clang to her as she was to him, pressing his face into her hair without a care in that moment.

It felt right, being in one another's arms, and it was something that Amity wouldn't trade even to revert back to the old world.

Maybe it was selfish, but she figured she could afford to be a bit selfish.

"I missed ya too, girl." She heard from above her and couldn't help but smile into the dirty material of his sleeveless shirt.

"You better have, Dixon."


	19. Chapter 19

"We're not leaving." Rick announced to the group that was spread around the cellblock.

Amity stood on the second level sandwiched between her brother and Daryl though neither of the men stood close enough so that they were touching her.

"We can't stay here." Hershel countered from where he was sat on the stairs.

"What if there's another sniper? A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds." Maggie pointed out.

"We can't even go outside." Beth added.

"Not in daylight." Carol said from the other side of Michael.

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn snapped and Amity held back a sigh at his aggressiveness.

"No, better to live like rats." A raspy Southern voice drawled and Amity turned her eyes to the cell that they had put Merle in for safe-keeping, as well as to ease the minds of those that were less than pleased with him being there.

She would admit that she was one of those people, but she wasn't after his blood like Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, or even Michael were.

"You got a better idea?" Rick asked the man, not sounding pleased with his interjection.

"Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day." Merle stated plainly. "But we lost that window, didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now."

"We ain't scared of that prick." Daryl told his brother, his voice a low warning.

"Y'all should be." Merle countered. "That truck through the fence thing- that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers and if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to."

"Let's put him in the other cell block." Maggie suggested, glaring at the older man.

"No." Rick dismissed.

"He's got a point." Amity added, knowing that was where the leader was going and she grudgingly agreed, ignoring the look that Glenn shot her.

"This is all you! You started this!" Maggie snapped Merle.

"What difference does it make whose fault it is? What do we do?" Beth asked, moving down the stairs to her father's side.

"I said we should leave. Now Axel's dead, we can't just sit here." Hershel reasoned.

Rick looked around the group for a moment, nodding slowly to himself before turning to walk away.

Amity pushed herself off of the railing she was leaning on and went to follow him, Daryl's eyes on her, but Hershel beat her to it.

"Get back here!" The older man yelled, using a tone that Amity hadn't heard from him since Shane was around.

Hershel made his way over to their leader, making a stand in front of the man.

"You're slipping, Rick." He him firmly. "We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and _do something_."

Rick looked at Hershel for a long moment, weighing up what he said before going to move again.

Amity let out a small sigh, debating her next move until Carl went off in the same direction as his father and she knew that she could leave it for now.

Turning her eyes to Daryl, she found the man already looking at her and offered him a tight smile.

He watched her with searching eyes for a moment longer before nodding towards the staircase and she followed along behind him without question.

The pair exited the cellblock in silence, heading towards the gate that would lead them to the rest of the prison and to another path outside that she had walked with Rick earlier.

"You came back." Amity spoke up, breaking the silence as they went along before finding themselves pushing through a door that led them to a walkway and to one of the guard towers.

"Ya said I would." Daryl replied, glancing her way as they both entered the tower, staying out of the view of the windows as they still didn't know if the Governor was out there waiting to pick them off.

"I had my hopes." Amity said with a shrug and Daryl turned to face her, stopping once they were chest to chest.

"How'd ya know?" He asked, voice low.

"I didn't." She told him, meeting his eyes. "I knew that you had to work things out with Merle, face whatever past the two of you have together, and I wasn't going to try to keep you from that. I figured... well, I figured that if you cared about me like I hoped you did, like how I care about you, then you would come back when you figured it out."

Silence stretched between them as Daryl simply looked at her and Amity struggled to not drop her gaze from his searching one, getting the feeling he was looking right through her to her soul like he seemed to have done so many times before.

Finally, he broke what had turned into a bit of a staring contest and pressed his warm chapped lips against her forehead, a calloused hand raising to the back of her head to secure the action as he held it for a beat or two before moving away.

She could read the tension in him like a book as he turned from her, pacing across the room with his thumbnail being held between his teeth, a nervous tick he had.

"My old man was an asshole growin' up." He said suddenly, not looking at her as he spoke. "Merle was in and out of juvie all the time once he was old enough to cause some real trouble so it was usually just me and my dad. My mom passed away when I was younger in a house fire that started 'cause of her smokin' in bed. There and gone just like that. She wasn't the greatest neither, but..." He trailed off for a moment and Amity stayed silent.

She was floored that he was opening up to her and she wasn't going to ruin the roll he was on. She knew it had to be hard for him to share, but it seemed that she was right in knowing he needed to go out there with Merle.

Maybe he learned that he could rely on more than just his brother.

"I guess she was somethin'." Daryl said finally, his blue eyes glancing over to quickly meet her's, as if gauging her reaction to his words, before he continued. "Once she was gone everything got worse and my dad was a dick when he was drunk. Took it out on Merle for the most part, but Merle always fought back and once he was gone..."

She watched as the muscle in his jaw jumped before she moved forward, not needing to hear anymore and it didn't seem like he wanted to say anymore.

Amity wrapped her arms tightly around Daryl's waist, pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw even as he tensed a bit at her actions, then she was burying her face in his chest and just holding him tightly.

There was nothing that she could say that would change anything that happened to him, but she wanted him to know that she was there now.

He wasn't alone in a bad situation like he had been.

"Thank you for telling me." She muttered into his shirt and unsurprisingly got no verbal response, but the man wrapped his arms around her all the same.

The pair stood in the guard tower for a long while more, both of them seeking something from one another that words couldn't exactly describe and as they held one another, they found it.

* * *

Heading back into the cellblock with Daryl only a step behind her, Amity spotted Rick talking to Maggie as he held keys out to the younger woman.

"Take watch." He told her. "Eyes open, head down."

Rick continued on his way down the line of cells, Amity stopping just inside the door with Daryl and waited for him to come to them.

"Field's filled with walkers." Rick continued as he put the gun he was holding down inside one of the cells. "I didn't see any snipers out there, but we'll keep Maggie on watch."

"I'll get up in the guard tower, take out half them walkers, give these guys a chance to fix the fence." Daryl suggested, looking at his friend and leader.

"I can take my bow and help." Amity offered, but Daryl shook his head.

"Not with your arm all messed up ya can't." He pointed out and Amity narrowed his eyes half-heartedly at him, gaining a small smirk from the man at her expense.

"Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place." Michonne cut in, looking like she wanted nothing more than to roll her eyes at the couple.

"We can't access the field without burning through our bullets." Hershel argued.

"So we're trapped in here. There's barely any food or ammo." Glenn said, sounding annoyed.

Michael seemed to spot the pow-wow from his place on the second level and began to come down to join them, his heavy footsteps causing the metal stairs to rattle a bit.

"Been here before. We'll be alright." Daryl reasoned.

"That's when it was just us." Glenn shot back and Amity spotted the impending argument, exchanging a look with her brother as he settled in at her side. "Before there was a snake in the nest."

"Man, we gonna go through this again?" Daryl asked him, stepping up to the younger man.

"Look, Merle's staying here. He's with us now. Get used to it." He snapped, moving to walk away. "All y'all." He added, brushing past Rick even as the man tried to stop him and ran up the stairs Michael had just come down.

"Good job, Glenn." Amity said flatly, watching Daryl's back before turning her eyes to the Korean.

"You don't want him here any more than I do." Glenn told her before rounding on Rick. "Seriously, Rick, I don't think Merle living here is really gonna fly."

"I can't kick him out." Rick replied, his decision catching him between a rock and a hard place aka Daryl and Glenn.

"I wouldn't ask you to live with Shane after he tried to kill you." Glenn snapped and Amity's brows raised a bit at that.

Low blow.

"Merle has military experience." Hershel cut in from where he had joined them moments before. "He may be erratic, but don't underestimate his loyalty to his brother."

That was something Amity agreed with. As much as she disliked Merle, she could tell that he cared for Daryl in a very true and sometimes slightly misguided way.

She was certain neither of the Dixon men really understood what affection was thanks to their jackass of a father, and she had come to realize that sometimes Merle's words held more emotion than what just laid on the surface.

"What if we solve both problems at once?" Glenn asked. "Deliver Merle to the Governor. Bargaining chip. Give him his traitor, maybe declare a truce."

"Daryl would skin you alive." Michael said simply and Amity nodded.

"Throwing his brother to the man who pitted them against one another? Yeah, that'll go well." Amity added, her tone biting. "We're not those kind of people, Glenn Rhee and if we become them... then what makes us different from Woodbury?"

With that, Amity turned and headed for the stairs as well, but unlike Daryl she stopped halfway up them and took a seat, watching as the small group dispersed and Hershel went to talk to Merle.

"That was some deep stuff, Bug. You've always had a way at pickin' at people's thoughts like that." Michael said as he climbed the stairs, taking a seat next to the redhead.

The woman let out a soft snort, shaking her head a bit before leaning against her brother's built figure, her cheekbone resting against his shoulder.

"I just say what I think, what I see." She reasoned and Michael chuckled lightly, making her look up at him with confusion.

"That's a mighty unusual thing all the same. Most people are either too scared or they have too much to hide themselves." The older man explained after catching her look.

"I've plenty to hide." Amity said quietly, feeling her brother's eyes on her as she dropped her own to look at the concrete floor a few feet down in front of them.

"Nothin' that you need to." He told her.

"You and I both know that's not true."

"Dad wouldn't have wanted you to-" Michael began but Amity cut him off.

"We don't know what either of our parents would have wanted, Michael. Mom wasn't around to tell us and daddy... well, I wasn't around for him."

"No... you weren't." Michael agreed, making Amity shrink into herself a bit at the confirmation.

"But he didn't care one lick about that. He didn't need you to be there for him, Amity. He always told me as much when I'd be pissed about you runnin' off and cuttin' ties like you did. 'She's got her own life to live, boy. Her own dreams and goals and it ain't my job to hold her back. I'm here for her when she needs me, that's what a father does.' Every single time I complained, that's what he'd tell me." He informed her.

Amity pressed her lips tightly together as her brother finished his small rant, trying and failing to hold back tears as one escaped to roll down her cheek, frustrating her a bit as she roughly wiped it away.

"He loved you and he never blamed you for leavin'. He didn't blame you for momma leavin' either and you shouldn't be blamin' yourself. Especially not now." Michael scolded though his voice held no anger.

Amity stayed silent, her eyes still trained on the concrete until she heard Hershel leaving Merle and quickly stood.

She leaned over to press a kiss to the top of her brother's head, pulling off his cowboy hat to do so before replacing it on his dark curls and hoping down the stairs.

She crossed the cellblock over to the cell where Merle was now being held, ignoring the eyes on her back as she went, and found that the door of the cell was being left open for the moment.

The older man looked up as she approached, obviously not expecting her to be sitting down across from him.

"How's it hangin', Red?" Merle asked, his usual smirk pulling at his lips.

"I've been better. Having a psychopath out for the blood of your family really puts a damper on things." Amity replied with a fair bit of snark.

"Ain't that some shit." Merle said without missing a beat as he looked her over, his eyes lingering on the bandage on her arm causing him to shift uncomfortably.

"So ya've been gettin' down and dirty with Darylina." He spoke up, stating it as more of a fact than a question.

"If that's your way of asking if Daryl and I are... more than just friends then I guess yes." Amity replied, raising a brow at the man as if waiting for him to correct her rewording.

"Why didn't ya say something in the parking lot... if ya knew I was his brother?" Merle asked, finding and holding her gaze.

The question was one that Amity hadn't thought about and she leaned back against the wall behind her as she considered it.

"Maggie said something- that's what you were trying to get her to repeat- but I stopped it." She informed him, watching as he nodded slowly. "I guess I didn't want that of all things to be ruined."

It was Merle's turn to look at her with a bit of expectation, obviously waiting for her to explain further.

"I didn't want whatever is between Daryl and I to be used as an out while my friends suffered." She explained, a bit hesitantly. "That's never been what liking him has been about. It wasn't because he was one of the last men standing, or because he's such a survivalist, or because he could keep me the safest. I don't like him because of what he can give me and I didn't want that to be changed."

Silence stretched between them for a long moment before the man across from her was nodding once more, his eyes now looking anywhere but her and Amity thought again about the way neither of the Dixon men were comfortable with the confrontation of any emotion beyond anger- it was all they had ever known.

"I didn't want you back here." Amity stated suddenly, pulling Merle's gaze back to her.

"Join the club, sweetheart." Merle quipped back.

"I've got to say-" Amity continued, choosing to ignore the man in order to not regret what she was about to say. "-I'm okay with you being here now. Daryl... he missed you and since you're here, I can tell that you missed him too."

"Sugar, my baby brother was doin' just fine without me around." Merle argued, shaking his head.

"He was surviving without you, there's a difference. You guys have a bond that I won't even begin to try to understand. It's different than mine with my brother, but it's just as important. The thing you have to realize now is that he doesn't _need_ you anymore." Amity told him, her words firm but not heated. "He's his own man. He doesn't need you around to guide him, but now he _wants_ you around because he loves you and you love him- whether y'all admit to it or not."

"You're makin' a lot of things deeper than they are, Red." Merle told her though even he didn't even sound convinced by his words.

"Maybe, but I don't think I am." She replied, shrugging lightly before looking towards the entrance of the cell when a shadow fell across them.

"Hey there, little brother. Your girl here's been keepin' me company." Merle greeted Daryl with a raunchy smirk.

Daryl's eyes were cautiously curious as he looked between his brother and Amity and the redhead offered him a reassuring smile.

"I was just about to go though, you need something?" Amity asked, rising to her feet and moving to stand just in front of Daryl as he was blocking the doorway.

"Just been lookin' for ya." Daryl said quietly.

"Found me." Amity replied, gently putting a hand to his chest to move him back a step and out of her way to leave.

"See ya later, sugar." Merle called out from behind her, making Daryl narrow his eyes slightly while Amity tossed a wave over her shoulder at him.

Daryl followed behind the redhead before moving faster to walk along her side.

"Why were ya talkin' to Merle?" Daryl asked as they exited the cellblock and Amity shrugged.

"I'm bad at holding grudges. I just wanted to clear the air. I don't agree with his views on how to do things, but I get that he was following someone's orders the same as we would follow Rick's."

"Rick ain't like that Governor asshole though." Daryl countered and Amity inclined her head towards him, giving him that.

"True enough, but there's so much grey area now, can't expect everyone to see the same things as bad or good like we do." She reasoned.

They stopped inside of the common area, Amity hopping up to sit on one of the tables as Daryl stood in front of her.

The pair sized one another up for a moment until Amity broke the seriousness with a light laugh, pulling a soft smile from the hunter.

"Come here, Robin Hood." She requested, smiling wider as he scowled at her nickname for him.

She reached out towards him, tugging him forward by the front of his shirt until he was stood just between her knees.

"Kiss me." She requested and he raised a brow at her.

"When did ya get so demanding?" He asked and she snorted lightly.

"I've always been demanding and you know it." She told him.

At that, the man just shook his head before doing as directed, leaning down until their lips met and Amity could let the rest of the world fade into the background.

She was still amazed over how the feeling of his lips against hers could take her out of the situation they were dealing with and into a small bubble of bliss that seemed to surround just them.

One of her hands found his hair and she didn't protest when he stepped closer, deepening the kiss between them and she felt accomplished when the nip of her teeth against his lower lip had a groan escaping him.

The metallic clang of the outside door opening had the couple breaking apart, turning wide eyes to see Rick and Carl entering the space.

The former sheriff looked at the with a mix of amusement and something else before he motioned for them to come to him, calling for the rest of the group.

"We got a visitor." The man announced once everyone else was in the space. "I need Amity, Daryl, Michonne, Merle, and Beth with me on the ground. Glenn, Michael, take the rest up onto the catwalk with Maggie. Eyes open, heads down."

The group split without argument and Amity grabbed one of the guns that Carl had fetched for them all before following the group she was with outside, falling into place between the Dixon brothers.

Cautiously the group made their way out into the concrete yard, Merle moving quickly ahead to scan the area before announcing it was clear and the rest of them continued on, Amity covering the middle ground between the Dixons as Rick took point.

At the sight of a familiar blonde at their gate, Amity's eyes widened. Andrea was the last person that she expected their 'visitor' to be.

"Open the gate." Andrea called out to them, struggling with the walker she was leading along in front of her on a claw grabber tool.

"Are you alone?!" Rick yelled, leaning back against the fence as he scanned the outside area for anyone else from Woodbury.

"Rick!" Andrea almost pleaded.

Rick hesitated only a moment before turning to toss a set of keys towards Daryl who caught them easily and went to open the lock on the gate.

"Open it." Daryl instructed his brother and Andrea shoved the walker in her hold away before darting through the gate as it rolled back.

"Hands up!" Rick yelled at the woman as Amity kept her gun trained on her, watching as Rick shoved her around and against the fence. "Turn around. Turn around now!"

"Alright." Andrea conceded, putting her hands up and on the fence as Rick patted her down until a walker slammed against the fence and sent her stumbling back.

"Get down, on the floor." Rick commanded, pushing her onto her knees. "I asked if you were alone."

Amity turned away from the pair, looking at the woods and fields surrounding their small cleared area to ensure that they weren't being attacked then and there.

"I am." Andrea told the leader.

A bag flew past Amity and she noted that Rick must have ripped it off of Andrea.

"Welcome back." Rick said flatly. "Get up." Then he was hauling the woman to her feet, Amity moving to flank him as he guided the woman back towards the prison.

Amity spared Daryl a quick glance, the hunter pressing his lips together slightly in response as he followed them.

Once inside the common area, they were met by Carol looking at Andrea with a fair bit of shock before the two women were hugging.

"After you saved me and Amity lost sight of you, we thought you were dead." Carol told the blonde.

"I thought Amity was dead after I saw her go down with that horse." Andrea admitted, turning to look at the redhead who weighed her options before stepping forward to engulf her old friend in a tight hug.

"I tried to get to you." Amity muttered to her and Andrea nodded.

"I know." She reassured her before the two were parting, Amity moving to stand next to Daryl who had made himself comfortable on one of the tables.

"Hershel, my God." Andrea gasped as she spotted the older man and noted that he was missing a limb.

She stepped forward into the middle of the group, looking around the space with a bit of awe.

"I can't believe this." She said quietly. "Where's Shane?"

The group avoided her gaze, Rick shaking his head slightly as his jaw jumped.

"And Lori?" Andrea continued and Amity wished she hadn't.

"She had a girl. Lori didn't survive." Hershel spoke up.

"Neither did T-Dog." Maggie added.

Amity wrapped her arms around herself at the memories of those they had lost, but a small touch brushed against the back of one of her hands and she found herself stepping a bit closer to Daryl. Her hip brushed his knee and that was enough to steady her.

"I'm so sorry." Andrea told them all, true sadness clear in her voice.

Her eyes found the second youngest member of their group and she stepped towards the boy.

"Carl." She said gently but Carl looked at her with a blank expression, revealing nothing.

It unsettled Amity to see how closed off he had become, but she knew that it was only a normal reaction to all that he had faced and continued to face every day.

"Rick, I-" Andrea began again, moving towards the former sheriff who took a step back in response.

"You all live here?" She asked the entire group, apparently realizing that the Grimes males were not much for talking about their loss.

"Here and the cell block." Michael answered her, his deep voice rumbling through the space.

"There?" Andrea asked, pointing towards the door that lead to their living quarters and Glenn nodded.

"Well, can I go in?" She questioned though she was already moving forward.

"I won't allow that." Rick said, intercepting her path and blocking the way to the rest of their space.

"I'm not an enemy, Rick." Andrea told him, sounding hurt.

"We had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up." Rick informed her, voice hard.

"He said you fired first." She responded, sounding confused.

"Well, he's _lying_." Amity snapped, not being able to hold back the bit of venom in her voice at the mention of the Governor.

"He killed an inmate who survived in here." Hershel told the woman.

"We liked him. He was one of us." Daryl added, staring the blonde down.

"I didn't know anything about that. As soon as I found out, I came here." Andrea defended, turning to scan the group. "I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out."

"That was days ago." Glenn said.

"I told you, I came as soon as I could." Andrea tried again, but was met with nothing but silence and disbelief.

"What have you told them?" Andrea asked loudly, rounding on Michonne.

"Nothing." Michonne replied simply.

"I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?" Andrea questioned, getting frustrated with the responses her arrival was gaining.

"He almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us-" Glenn told her before she cut him off.

"With his finger on the trigger!" Andrea snapped, pointing at Merle who was stood on the steps that lead to the door. "Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you? Look, I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am here trying to bring us together. We have to work this out."

Amity looked to Merle as well, knowing that Andrea had a point but circumstances changed.

Merle was there with them now, helping to defend them against the threat that the Governor posed. He wasn't the one cuddling up to the evil son of a bitch at night.

"There's nothing to work out." Rick growled. "We're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when, but we will."

"We can settle this. There is room at Woodbury for all of you." Andrea said, trying to persuade them but Merle simply chuckled in response.

"Ya know better than that." He told the woman.

"What makes you think this man wants to negotiate? Did he say that?" Hershel asked.

"No." Andrea admitted.

"Then why did you come here?" Rick questioned.

"Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack." Andrea explained, her voice desperate.

"I'll tell you what." Daryl said, drawing all eyes to him. "Next time you see _Philip_ , you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye."

Amity couldn't help but search his face at his words, seeing the promise that laid behind his expression before Glenn spoke and drew the attention away.

Daryl looked to Amity once it was and offered her a small nod, a confirmation that he wasn't just saying it to say it.

The man had hurt Amity, did things to her that Daryl wasn't exactly certain of, but the bastard didn't get to live after it.

Amity returned his nod, holding his gaze for a moment longer before tuning back into the conversation.

"He wants a war? He's got one." Glenn said coldly.

"Rick." Andrea said, turning to their leader to try to make her case once again. "If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town. Look at you. You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore."

"You want to make this right, get us inside." Rick suggested.

"No." Andrea said and immediately Rick began to walk away.

"Then we got nothing to talk about." He said.

"There are innocent people!" She spoke over him, but he didn't stop.

Amity watched as their leader disappeared into the cellblock and shifted uncomfortably at Daryl's side due to the heavy silence that followed.

"You can't keep a foot on either side of the line forever." Michael said suddenly, breaking the silence. "Eventually you either chose to move on one way or the other- or you fall."

Amity nodded at her brother's words, watching as Andrea seemed to consider what he said for a moment before pushing it aside and gesturing for Michonne to follow her to the concrete yard.

It was frustrating to see her ignore the advice. It seemed that she really hadn't changed that much since their time on the farm. When Andrea thought she was doing right, there was no saying differently.

They all stood in silence for a few long moments even after the two women had left the space until Daryl stood up from his spot and headed towards the cellblock, breaking the spell over them.

The redhead moved to her brother, nudging him with her elbow then offering him a smile once her looked at her.

"You tried." She told him and the man nodded slowly.

"I guess." He replied.

* * *

Andrea had left in one of the cars a few hours earlier and her parting was bittersweet.

As the sun faded from the sky, the group had gathered in the cellblock. Carol, Michael, and Beth sat around candles and a single lantern on the floor in the center of the room.

Amity stood just outside of the cells next to Daryl, seeking his sturdy presence ever since he had returned.

Hershel stood on the other side of him while Maggie sat on the staircase.

Amity watched Beth's eyes rove over the group, a small frown marring her lips before she sat up straighter.

 _"They hung a sign up in our town. If you live it up, you won't live it down."_ The young blonde sang, looking to her father as she did so.

 _"So, she left Monte Rio, son. Just like a bullet leaves a gun."_

Rick's footsteps sounded on the catwalk above and the man came down the stairs with Judith in his arms.

 _"With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips. She went and took the California trip."_

Glenn crossed the room from his cell to settle down next to Maggie on the stairs. Things had been tense between the two ever since Woodbury and Amity hoped that they would find their way through it.

She had faith that they would.

 _"Well, the moon was gold and her hair like wind. Said, 'don't look back now just come on, Jim'."_

Amity watched as Carol leaned against her brother's side, settling her head back against the curve of his shoulder as she smiled over at Beth encouragingly.

The redhead felt an arm settle across her shoulders and nearly tensed out of surprise before she recognized the tingles blossoming across her skin and realized that it was Daryl who had done so.

Any sort of public affection was a rarity from the man, something she could appreciate as she wasn't much for PDA herself, but the small gesture of comfort and contentment had warmth blossoming in her chest as she leaned into his side.

 _"You got to hold on, hold on. You got to hold on."_ Beth sang, her rich voice echoing pleasantly through the space. _"Take my hand, I'm standing right here. You got to hold on. Well, he gave her a dime-store watch and a ring made from a spoon."_

Rick had settled in on the other side of Hershel, gently rocking Judith in his arms.

 _"Everyone's looking for someone to blame. If you share my bed, you share my name."_

"Some reunion, huh?" Daryl said, looking to Rick as Beth continued singing in the background.

"She's in a jam." Rick said.

"We all are." Hershel added. "Andrea's persuasive. This fella's armed to the teeth. Bent on destruction."

"So what do ya want to do?" Daryl asked their leader.

"We match it." Rick replied simply. "I'm going on a run."

"I'll head out tomorrow." Daryl said immediately but Rick shook his head.

"No, you stay here. Keep an eye on your brother." He instructed. "I'm glad you're back, really, but if he causes a problem, it's on you."

They looked to Merle for a moment before Daryl nodded.

"I got him." He promised.

"I'll take Michonne." Rick revealed.

"Ya sure that's a good idea?" Daryl asked him.

"I'll find out." Rick reasoned. "And Carl. He's ready. You hold it down here."

"You got it." Daryl agreed, the men falling silent once more.

 _"When there's nothing left to keep you here. When you're falling behind in this big blue world. You got to hold on, hold on."_

* * *

The feeling of movement at her side had Amity's eyes blinking open, the world appearing a bit bleary due to the sleep that still clouded them.

"Is it mornin'?" Amity asked, stretching out languidly as her sleep-addled brain allowed her accent to slip out and resemble her brother's more closely than most have ever heard it.

"Yeah, we slept in some." Daryl's deep morning voice rasped from where he sat on the edge of the bed.

Amity let out a small groan of protest at that, not wanting to get up but hating that they slept in late. She tossed her legs over the side of the bed once Daryl rose to his feet and wandered over to her pile of clothes in search of a fairly clean shirt to pull on.

She ignored Daryl who was lacing up his boots as she faced away from him and tugged her dirty tank top up and over her head, tossing it to a dirty pile in the corner of the room before choosing a dark purple muscle shirt to replace it.

Once she was clothed again, Amity turned to catch Daryl dropping his eyes to his crossbow that he was picking up from where he had left it against the wall and she couldn't help but smirk lightly, resisting the urge to laugh at him being caught.

At first her heart had dropped a bit at the realization he was watching her, memories from Woodbury threatening her mind, but she pushed them aside. Daryl would leave if she told him to. He wouldn't touch her if she told him not to. He wouldn't look at her if she told him not to.

That she knew for a fact.

With that in mind, she was able to just enjoy the moment and his interest in her that made her feel a bit warm.

"I'm you today." She told him as she stepped into her boots, gesturing to her sleeveless shirt which elicited an eye roll from the man.

"You wish." He said and she stuck her tongue out at him as she laced her boots up.

"Come on, Tom." She said as she brushed past him, her weapons back in their rightful place on her belt.

"Tom?" Daryl questioned as they both exited the cell, going down the stairs.

"Yeah, Tom. As in the peeping kind." Amity told him, turning with a wry smile to catch his reaction.

It was amusing to watch a flush crawl up his cheeks, though his expression betrayed nothing aside from his eyes dropping to the ground.

"If you wanted to see my shirtless, Dixon. You could have just asked." Amity teased quietly, not being able to pass up the moment as she pressed a kiss to his jaw, ignoring his grumbling as she continued out towards the common area.

The hunter followed behind her only a step slower and Amity could have hugged Carol when she held out a pack of crackers and some oatmeal towards her.

"You're a blessing." Amity told the woman who rolled her eyes at the redhead, shooing her over to the tables where Glenn, Maggie, and Beth already sat.

"Rick, Michonne, and Carl already head out?" Amity asked as she took a seat next to Maggie, leaving a space between herself and Beth if Daryl chose to join them.

It was no surprise when the man took his bowl and kept heading out of the prison though.

"Yeah, they left about an hour ago." Glenn informed her and she nodded in response, digging into her food.

"Is Daryl staying with you now then?" Beth asked and Amity nearly chocked on her oatmeal, not expecting the question.

"Uh..." She began, looking to the couple next to her for help but they both just looked at her with equal expectance and a bit of amusement.

"I guess so." Amity replied lamely but Beth seemed satisfied with the answer since she nodded, looking back to Judith who sat in her arms as she fed her.

"Are you two dating?" Beth questioned and Amity sat her spoon down for a moment, realizing that maybe she wouldn't get a chance to finish her food with the younger girl's Q&A session.

"I don't think so... or at least we haven't talked about it like that." Amity explained, sounding unsure even to her own ears.

"Why don't you just ask him?" Maggie chimed in and Amity looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes.

Her friend could be such a traitor sometimes.

"I don't think either of us are really needing or looking for a label." She said with a small shrug, quickly picking up a spoon and shoveling one last spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth in hopes of deterring anymore questions about her and Daryl's relationship.

"Do you love him?" Beth asked and at that, Amity shot to her feet.

"Oh, look at the time! I'm late for doing that thing Rick wanted me to do today. A really important thing." Amity excused, knowing that not one person at the table believed what she said, but it bought her time to return her bowl to Carol before jogging quickly out of the prison and into the concrete yard.

Once she was out of the common area and found herself alone, the redhead let out a loud breath, shaking her head to herself.

Did she _love_ Daryl?

Honestly, she wasn't sure.

Once he had left she had wrestled with the idea that she might, but she wasn't sure what that kind of love even meant.

She loved her brother. She loved Carol and Maggie, and she loved Rick, Judith, and Carl. She loved Glenn, Beth, and Hershel as well.

That was a kind of love that she understood, but when it came to Daryl... well, she knew it was a different kind of emotion, but she wasn't certain what that meant.

"I'm not cut out for this kind of thing." She muttered to herself.

"For what kinda thing?" A deep voice asked from behind her and Amity leapt a clear foot in the air, whipping around to see her brother standing there looking amused.

"Don't do that!" She hissed at him. "You're nearly as bad as Daryl!"

"Sorry, but you looked like you were thinkin' mighty hard about somethin' so I figured I'd come interrupt before you busted a blood vessel." Michael said with a teasing smile.

"You're a jerk, Walker." Amity told him and the man simply chuckled in response.

"Really though, Bug. What were you talking to the walkers about?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Just talking to talk." She dismissed with a wave of her hand before nodding towards the fence nearby where a couple of walkers had gathered at the sound of their voices.

"Want to take some out through the fence with me?" She asked, holding up the machete she drew from her belt.

"Might as well." Michael replied, moving forward and draping an arm over his sister's shoulders as they walked towards the fence.

"So... you and Carol are pretty comfortable, huh?" Amity asked with a teasing smile.

"Shut up and stab some walkers, kid." Michael told her flatly.

* * *

Rick, Michonne, and Carl returned just before the sun began to set that evening.

They unloaded more weapons than Amity had ever expected and at the sight of a new crossbow being held out to him by Michonne, Daryl's eyes lit up as a small smile pulled at his lips.

He took the crossbow from the woman, nodding at her as a bit of thanks before beginning to weigh the weapon in his hands.

"Got a new toy?" Amity asked him with an amused smile.

He didn't pause in his preliminary testing of the new weapon as he responded.

"Hell yeah, this is a nice ass crossbow." He said, his excitement so obvious that Amity couldn't help but smile a bit brighter.

It was a rare emotion for the man to show.

Nonetheless she ended up shaking her head in amusement at him, turning to walk back over to the table that the weapons were spread out on but a hand on the crook of her elbow stopped her.

"Ya know what this means?" Daryl asked once Amity had turned back to look at him with question.

"That you're going to be less of a grump for a couple of days?" She asked playfully, laughing when he scowled at her.

"No, girl. It means that ya can learn how to shoot a crossbow now." He told her.

"What?" Amity responded, not expecting him to sat that of all things.

"Ya heard me. You're pretty good with your compound, but now that I've got a spare it wouldn't hurt ya to know both." He reasoned and she hesitated before realizing that this was actually a big deal with him.

He was not only offering her the chance to use his old crossbow, but also offering to teach her how to use it and how could anyone say no to that?

"Alright, but you can't be too upset when I'm better than you." Amity teased and the hunter just shook his head at her.

"Good luck with that." He told her.

The couple moved from the common area back towards the cellblock where everyone else had started to migrate to.

The group circled up around Rick, the leader apparently needing to tell them all something.

"I've decided to meet with the Governor, see what he's got to say. Andrea told me a time and place and we're going to go and scope him out some." Rick announced.

Merle let out a scoff at that, but said nothing while a few of them shifted uncomfortably at the decision.

"I'm going to head out tomorrow morning. I need a few of you to go with me, but those who stay need to keep working on defending this place. Glenn, you'll be in charge here. Daryl, I'll be taking you, Hershel, and Amity with me." Rick said and Amity's eyes widened a bit.

She was going with him to meet with the Governor?

She felt her stomach flip and she froze up a bit at the prospect.

"No." Michael cut in, noticing Amity's reaction.

"It's fine, I'm fine. I can do it." Amity said quickly, pushing aside the fear that had taken ahold of her and exchanging it for anger and a bit of determination to go.

"You don't have to-" Michael began but Rick cut him off.

"If she's okay to go, I need her there." The leader said.

"She's not-" Michael started again.

"I'm fine." Amity interjected firmly.

"Then it's settled. We'll head out in the morning." Rick announced, finality in his tone.


	20. Chapter 20

Wind pulled at the tight french braid Beth had pulled Amity's wild ginger locks into as the redhead clutched onto Daryl, his motorcycle roaring below them as they led the way to the meeting spot.

Amity wasn't sure what to feel or think about the fact she was going to be in the same area as the man who assaulted herself and Maggie, but nonetheless the whirlwind of emotions had her hands trembling as she climbed off of the bike once Daryl had stopped it in front of a large barn with a few giant silos.

She channeled the emotion into anger, into protecting the three men with her from whatever they may be met with that day.

A light touch ghosted across her cheek, pulling her from her thoughts, and she turned slightly to meet Daryl's eyes, seeing the concern within them that he was barely trying to mask.

Amity gave the man a tight smile, hoping to reassure him but she felt that the forced action may have had the opposite effect.

"Ya didn't have to come." Daryl told her lowly and Amity shook her head.

"I did. I needed to. I can't just run and hide or duck my head and let everyone else do things because I'm afraid." She reasoned and Daryl stayed quiet at that, though he didn't seem happy about her reasoning.

"Daryl, with me." Rick called out softly and the hunter nodded, giving Amity one last glance before tearing his eyes away.

Amity watched the two men disappear between two of the large silos and turned to look at Hershel, nodding once at him before sitting on the hood of the car with the large gun she was given held in her hands, her bow draped over her shoulder just in case.

Hershel told her she wasn't allowed to use it yet due to her still healing arm, but if bullets failed her it felt good to have it nearby.

A few long moments of silence passed before Daryl appeared alone between the silos and gestured for Hershel to move the Hyundai to another area. Amity followed behind on foot.

"He's already in there." Daryl was telling the older man as she approached. "Sat down with Rick."

Amity felt herself almost hesitate at the news the Governor was already around but she pushed herself forward, her steps not faltering as she came up next to the hunter and the farmer.

"I don't see any cars." Hershel told them.

"It don't feel right." Daryl said quietly, blue eyes constantly scanning the area. "Keep it running."

It wasn't even a moment later that another engine sounded through the quiet and Amity was raising her gun as Daryl raised his crossbow.

"Heads up." Daryl told Hershel.

The couple kept their weapons trained on the vehicle, a tan Ford Excursion, as it came roaring through a nearby area and pulled to a stop just beside of them.

Three people climbed out of the car, but Amity only recognized two of them.

She met Martinez's gaze, seeing the surprise on his face at the sight of her of all people being there for the meeting.

"What the hell? Why's your boy already in there?" Daryl growled out, his words directed at Andrea while he kept his crossbow on Martinez, the more obvious threat.

"He's here?" The blonde asked, returning Amity's small wave of greeting.

"Yup." Daryl replied and just like that, Andrea was off towards the barn to try to fix things like she always was.

Once she disappeared inside, Amity gently rested a hand on Daryl's wrist to tell him to lower his weapon, nodding back towards the Hyundai.

"Didn't think you'd be here, Red." Martinez called out just as she convinced Daryl to move.

Immediately the hunter raised his crossbow again, directing it at the man with narrowed eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Amity asked, moving past Daryl to stand glaring at the hispanic man with her gun held firmly in her hands.

"Most people don't want a second meeting with the Gov, at least not those outside of Woodbury." Martinez answered with a small shrug.

"Ya know this prick?" Daryl asked from behind her, his voice sharp as he obviously wasn't pleased with the familiar conversation the pair were having.

"I'd use the term 'know' very sparingly." Amity replied which caused Martinez to smile a bit.

"And here I thought we were friends, Red." Martinez said, his voice holding faux hurt and Amity scoffed at him.

"You treat all your friends like that?"

"Like what?" Daryl interjected, his grip on his weapon never wavering.

"It was just business. Orders are orders." Martinez told her, ignoring Daryl.

"Try having a mind of your own sometime." Amity said coldly before turning to tug Daryl over to the car where Hershel now stood, the man having had been curious about the conversation and everything else going on while he was sat in the vehicle.

"He didn't-" Daryl began but Amity cut him off.

"No, it was all the Governor." She reassured.

"I'll still put an arrow through his skull if ya want." He offered, pulling a small smile from Amity even as she shook her head.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said softly.

A few more long moments passed in silence between the two groups, Amity now perched on the hood of their vehicle with Daryl leaning against the front bumper next to her.

"Maybe I should go inside." Hershel suggested after quite a bit of time had passed.

"The Governor thought it best if he and Rick spoke privately." The other man from Woodbury spoke up.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asked with a fair bit of condescension in his voice.

"Milton Mamet." The man, apparently Milton, replied and Amity barely suppressed the laugh that threatened to leave her at his name.

"Great." Daryl said, obviously not impressed. "He brought his butler."

Both Amity and Martinez let out a chuckle at that, Amity reaching out to gently swat Daryl's arm for the comment though his half smirk in her direction confirmed that he knew she didn't mean it at all.

"I'm his advisor." Milton corrected.

"What kind of advice?" Daryl asked.

"Planning. Biters." Milton said, sounding bothered. "Uh, you know, I'm sorry. I don't feel like I need to explain myself to the henchmen."

Amity's brows shot up at that and she immediately jumped off the hood of the car, moving to step in front of Daryl and place a gentle hand against his chest.

"Ya better watch your mouth, sunshine." Daryl warned the spectacled man.

"It's weird that you're calling _us_ the henchmen when it tends to be a term referring to those who blindly follow the evil villain." Amity said once she was sure Daryl wasn't going to go after the other man.

She turned to look at the Milton fellow with cold eyes, leaning back just barely so her shoulder blades brushed against Daryl's chest, a grounding touch that she needed to keep her cool.

It didn't seem to matter who it was from Woodbury that she was talking to, she was just so pissed at anyone and everyone involved in that place and it led to her fiery temper getting the best of her.

"We're not blindly following anyone." Milton said, sounding taken aback by her accusation.

"Right, you keep telling yourself that. I'll talk to you once you can see past your own fucking nose." Amity snapped.

"Cool it, Red." Martinez cut in and Amity's hackles rose immediately.

"She don't listen to you, man." Daryl snapped, one hand settling on her hip to press her back a step as if trying to pull her from the situation while simultaneously reassuring himself that she was right there with him- not anywhere else.

"Look, if you and I are gonna be out here pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favor and shut your mouth." Martinez replied and now it was Amity's turn again to stop Daryl from moving.

The tension between the two groups could be cut with a knife.

"We don't need this." Hershel interrupted, trying to keep the peace. "If all goes south in there, we'll be at each other's throats soon enough."

Amity and Daryl both moved back to their own side at that, needing the physical distance to calm themselves.

The redhead returned to her perch on the car, her fingernails tapping a rhythm out on the hard metal of the gun in her hands while Daryl paced in front of her.

The sound of the metal door had everyone looking over, catching sight of Andrea exiting alone which had Amity raising a brow in question.

The blonde woman simply dropped her eyes at the sight of everyone looking at her expectantly, sighing heavily as she went towards the Woodbury vehicle.

Daryl returned to pacing and the action was pulling at Amity's nerves but she didn't ask him to pause. She knew it was helping keep his nerves in check just as much as it was tap-dancing on her's.

Movement from the Woodbury vehicle had her blue eyes raising to watch Milton as he wandered into the space between the groups, seeming a bit hesitant.

"There's no reason not to use this time we have together to explore the issues ourselves." The man suggested.

"Boss said to sit tight and shut up." Martinez said simply.

"Don't you mean the _Governor_?" Daryl sneered.

"It's a good thing they're sitting down, especially after what happened. They're gonna work it out. Nobody wants another battle." Milton reasoned.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a battle." Daryl said incredulously.

"I would call it a battle and I did. I recorded it." Milton explained.

"Winners write the history." Amity stated, looking at the man with distaste.

"They didn't win nothin'." Daryl said and Amity shrugged.

"Busted down our fences, took our yard, gave us one more casualty than we gave them." She listed off and Daryl shook his head at her.

"Unless that fucker I shot who drove the truck in died?" Amity added, looking towards Martinez for an answer but he shook his head.

"Nah, Stuart's pissed though." Martinez told her, seeming amused as Amity sighed a bit in what could have been disappointment.

"Ya recorded it all for what?" Daryl cut across them, his eyes on Milton.

"Somebody's got to keep a record of what we've gone through. It'll be a part of our history." The 'advisor' explained.

"That makes sense." Hershel said and Amity agreed that it really did make sense, but that didn't mean the accounts were accurate.

"I've got dozens of interviews-" Milton began, looking at the older man with a bit of hopeful eagerness that was cut off by the sound of walkers snarling nearby.

Amity turned to the sound just as Daryl did and moved to hand her big gun over to Hershel.

"Don't shoot that bow. You'll hurt your progress." Hershel warned and Amity simply responded with a roguish smile before jogging off after Daryl and Martinez.

She took up the back with Andrea and stopped when the two men did, spotting two walkers stumbling between the silos.

"After you." Daryl told the other man, gesturing towards the walkers with a look that said he hoped he'd become their midday snack.

"No way. You first." Martinez argued.

Amity exchanged a look with Andrea before both women moved forward past the two men. The redhead drawing her machete from her waist as Andrea readjusted the grip on her knife.

Amity went right as Andrea went left, bringing her machete down into her walker's skull with a large amount of force, nearly splitting it in half just as Andrea's crumpled as well.

"Men." Amity said with a roll of her eyes as she turned back to the two standing a small distance away.

"Pussy." Martinez taunted Daryl, as if he hadn't hesitated as well before moving forward and twirling his bat in his hand as a few more walkers appeared between the silos. He paused only a moment and sent Amity an over exaggerated wink that she was sure was done just to piss Daryl off.

She watched as he smashed in another walker's skull, before he looked back at Daryl with a smirk and that is when Amity gestured to Andrea.

"Leave them to compare dick size." She suggested and the blonde nodded in response, looking as unamused as Amity felt.

Both women headed back to the cars in silence.

Daryl and Martinez continued along through the silos, the hunter taking the next geek and skewering it through the forehead with an arrow.

Martinez moved past it as it fell and took off half of the face of another with his bat.

One more fell victim to Daryl's amazing aim, the bolt going through the geek's eye socket and lodging itself in the last's neck.

Martinez went for the undead but Daryl quickly took the blade of his knife in his hand, throwing it forward with a flick of his wrist and causing the walker to fall silent.

The men exchanged a look, both weighing one another up before exchanging a nod, seemingly of understanding.

"Look what he's got." Daryl said as he kneeled down, searching through the last walker's pockets and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

He immediately dug one out and hung it from his lips, craving the nicotine within them like nothing else, then offered the pack out to the other man.

"Nah, I prefer menthols." Martinez said, leaning back against a telephone pole.

"Douchebag." Daryl scoffed, stashing the cigs in his back pocket. He took out his heavy silver lighter, flicking it open to light his smoke before inhaling a couple of times and returning the lighter to his pocket.

He took a few drags before looking over to Martinez.

"You army or something?" He asked.

"Nah, I just- just hate these things." Martinez replied, looking at the ground and anywhere but Daryl as he continued. "After what they did to my wife, my kids."

Daryl paused at that, taking another drag on his cigarette and feeling a bit of sympathy for the man next to him.

"Sucks." He offered up, having nothing more to say.

"Thanks." Martinez replied with a small nod, his eyes only going to the man once the topic changed. "So... you and Red?"

Daryl pulled the cigarette from between his lips, tapping the ashes off the end with a quick flick of his fingers before nodding without a word.

"She's a firecracker." Martinez said with a small chuckle, his words having a small smile flickering across the hunter's lips.

"You're tellin' me." Daryl replied.

"What happened in Woodbury..." Martinez began and Daryl turned to him, body tense as he waited for him to go on, his eyes holding nothing but thinly withheld anger.

"I didn't know it was going to be like that. If I had..." The Woodbury soldier trailed off.

"Ya wouldn't of done a damn thing." Daryl filled in coldly and Martinez looked at him with mix of indignation and guilt that told Daryl what he needed to know- that he was exactly right.

"I'm gonna kill your Governor in there- for touchin' her, for givin' her the nightmares she's been trying to hide. If I gotta kill ya to get to him, then that's gonna happen too." Daryl told the other man, holding his gaze for a long time until Martinez nodded, both men understanding one another in that moment.

With that being said, Daryl moved to go past the hispanic man to head back towards the vehicles and the firecracker in question.

"This is a joke, right? They ain't gonna work anything out." Martinez said suddenly, causing Daryl to stop in front of him. "Sure, they'll do their little dance and tomorrow or the next day they'll give the word."

"I know." Daryl said simply and Martinez gestured for one of the cigarettes now.

The hunter dug the pack from his pocket and held one out to him before offering a light.

"Let's get back." He suggested, flicking his lighter closed once the cigarette was smoking and moved towards the silos again.

* * *

Amity sat perched on the hood of the Hyundai once more, this time with Andrea sat next to her as both the women just took the silence between them as a time to gather their own thoughts.

Andrea was obviously upset that the meeting wasn't going as she originally had planned while Amity was pissed at the entire situation. Pissed that Woodbury existed and that the Governor, someone she had wanted to hurt like she had never wanted to hurt someone before, was sitting down with her friend like he wasn't a sociopathic perverted son of a bitch.

"How's it going in there?" A voice asked from in front of them and Amity glanced up to see that Hershel had left Milton and wandered over to them now.

"They kicked me out." Andrea said, sounding dejected. "I don't know what I'm doing here."

"You're trying to help." Hershel told her gently.

"What happened with Maggie?" Andrea asked suddenly, her voice sounding broken and Amity looked at her with a bit of shock, nearly shying away when the blonde turned her eyes on her next. "And with you?"

"He's a sick man." Hershel interjected, eyes sad as he held Amity's gaze with a look that told her Maggie had told him.

Amity suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe and rose to her feet, ignoring Andrea calling after her as she just went away.

Away from the barn that held the evil man, from Andrea who was torn between two groups, from Milton whose intelligence seemed to mislead him.

She went away from them and straight to the hunter who she knew could get her out of her head like no one else.

Daryl stepped from between the silos just as Amity approached them. He caught sight of the redhead and his pace picked up quickly, the man stopping in front of her as his blue eyes scanned her face with a fair bit of concern before glancing around like he was looking for whatever upset her.

Martinez stopped a foot or so from them, barely trying to be discreet as he watched their exchange.

"Ya okay? What happened?" Daryl asked, his voice low as his fingertips brushed over her cheekbone before his hand actually settled against her face, keeping her eyes on him as they threatened to drop.

"Just look at me." He told her, sensing her panic and she did as he said, willing to grasp onto anything that might help her regain her head.

She took a couple of deep breaths as she kept her eyes on his Georgia blues, taking in the warmth from his touch and allowing it to comfort her, to convince her that she was okay and nothing could touch her.

After what seemed like hours, but was in reality only a couple of minutes, Amity finally nodded slightly to let the man know that she was back- that she was okay.

Daryl seemed to be searching her eyes to make sure she wasn't lying and once he was convinced, he gently led the woman forward and back towards the vehicles with a nod that was followed by a guiding hand on her lower back.

Amity noted the look exchanged between the hunter and Martinez as they passed him. It held something she couldn't place, but before she could figure it out they were back with the rest of the group, Hershel looking at her with a fair bit of worry but Daryl's presence seemed to convince the older man to say nothing.

Andrea was on a bench by the barn so Amity didn't object when she was led over to the Hyundai, Daryl leaning against the hood as she did, their arms barely brushing as they stood side-by-side.

The sliding of the large metal door caught their attention and Amity felt her breath escaping her in a rush at the sight of the Governor stepping through the threshold.

Immediately, Daryl tensed at her side and moved to stand up fully, stepping a bit in front of the redhead as he kept his eyes trained on the man.

It pleased Amity to see the eyepatch he now had to wear and she reminded herself to high-five Michonne when they got back to the prison.

The leader of Woodbury turned his attention to her as he passed, a sick smile twisting on his lips that had Amity deciding that psychosis didn't explain him. He was just an evil twisted man- plain and simple.

As he smiled, Daryl seemed to tremble a bit in front of her as rage rolled off him in waves, his hands clutching the crossbow so tightly in his hands that his knuckles turned white.

The Governor spared him a bit of attention then, seemingly amused at his reaction and he paused as if he considered saying something but apparently decided against it as he just sent another look towards Amity that said more than she thought his mouth ever could, before climbing into the vehicle that the other Woodbury citizens had arrived in.

Amity firmly took a hold of the back of Daryl's vest, grabbing the leather just between the wings to make sure he didn't do anything irrational as Andrea seemed to weigh her choice between the two groups.

Finally Daryl turned to head towards his bike without paying mind to anyone else around him. Amity followed along after and threw a leg over the motorcycle just as Andrea went towards the Woodbury vehicle- making her choice.

The pair circled around the front of the Governor's car as Daryl moved to leave, the motorcycle's engine a low rumble. Amity met Martinez's eyes as he looked out the window of the back seat and she returned the nod he sent her way- settling something between them in that moment.

The bike lurched forward once they were back on asphalt, Daryl seeming eager to leave the Governor and the rest of the people of Woodbury behind as they roared their way down the road and back towards their home and family.

* * *

Pulling back into the prison was what the woman expected.

The gates were opened as their people gathered around them to make sure that everyone was accounted for.

Amity gave her brother a tight hug, exchanging a smile with Maggie then Carol and ruffling Carl's hair as they moved inside the prison at Rick's direction.

She kept quiet as they all walked, sensing a familiar presence just behind her as she moved side-by-side with her brother and glanced over her shoulder to shoot Daryl a quick smile of thanks for his slightly overprotective nature.

Some people needed space to breathe when they were trying not to fall apart, and occasionally she did, but right then she needed people she could trust all around her and the hunter seemed to pick up on that.

The group settled into a loose circle once inside the cellblock, all looking at Rick as they waited for him to speak.

"So, I met this Governor." Their leader began. "Sat with him for quite a while."

"Just the two of you?" Merle asked and Amity turned suspicious eyes onto him.

"Yeah." Rick confirmed.

"Should have gone when we had the chance, bro." Merle said to Glenn as he turned, heading to the back of the group and it was only then that Amity returned her attention to Rick, pushing the always confrontational Dixon out of her head.

"He wants the prison." Rick announced. "He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead for what we did to Woodbury."

In the silence, Amity shared a look with her brother, both of the Walker siblings wary about the outcome now that the impending fight was confirmed.

"We're going to war." The leader finished.

He let his words hang for a moment before he was moving through the crowd and towards the exit.

Amity weighed whether to follow him or not, but a figure stepping in front of her made the decision for her as she looked slightly more upwards to see Daryl who had just finished exchanging a meaningful look with his brother.

"We're going to be alright." Amity told him, reading the stress on his face though it laid so well hidden behind his expression.

Daryl just looked at her for another long moment before nodding lightly, stepping forward so the two of them were almost touching before he seemed to reconsider it and nodded towards the stairs.

Amity moved with him without a second thought, the couple leaving everyone else behind as they disappeared into the cell he all but shared with her.

Only once they were alone, blocked from the view of others by the cell walls that only provided a bit of privacy with their barred doors, did Daryl take her face in his rough hands, crashing his lips to hers with a passion that she hadn't expected.

The kiss spoke of everything between them- their feelings for one another, their fear of the future, the fierce protectiveness that Daryl felt towards the woman, and her torment over what had happened in Woodbury.

Amity felt her back hit the mattress and she realized she didn't know when they had moved, but she hooked her legs around the hunter's waist all the same, one of her hands tangling in his dirty hair as she pulled him that much closer against her.

Daryl let out a low mix between a growl and a groan as she tugged lightly at his hair, her teeth scraping over his bottom lip before he was rolling his hips against hers, the sensation causing a gasp to leave her lips.

His lips left hers, trailing down the soft curve of her jaw and to her throat, the kisses he pressed to her skin leaving heat in their wake until he was gently nipping at the exposed skin of her shoulder.

Amity hissed lightly, her hands grasping at the man's back until the sound of footsteps on the metal stairs had them parting, their lack of privacy more apparent than ever with Daryl braced over top of her as he was.

The hunter swiftly moved, but didn't quite let go of the woman as he shifted their position so that he was sitting with his back against the wall, her next to him though her legs were draped across his and one of his arms was still tucked around her.

She rested her forehead against his, taking a moment to still her pounding heart before a light laugh left her lips.

"What's funny, girl?" Daryl asked her, his voice rasping out a tone deeper than usual and she nearly lost her train of thought in response.

"Nothing, Dixon." She chirped back innocently, garnering a snort in response.

A comfortable silence fell between the pair as Amity leaned back, planning to rest her cheek against the man's shoulder but was stopped by the firm arm around her waist and met the pair of Georgia blues that had heat searing through her once more.

"He ain't gonna touch ya again." Daryl told her firmly, holding her gaze. "I promise you that."

Amity felt a different kind of warmth flood her chest, her throat growing tight as she fought against the emotion that came with his words.

"I know, Daryl." She reassured him, believing every word that came out of his mouth, promise or not. "I know."

* * *

Amity's arms were crossed tightly over her chest as she paced away from the three men she had been stood outside with.

She needed a break- a bit of room to breathe after Rick telling both her and Daryl what the Governor had really asked for in the barn the day before. He wanted them to hand over Michonne. He said it was a bargaining chip, a sign of their truce, and Amity wasn't buying it one bit. The Governor wouldn't leave them alone that easy, especially not once whatever sick revenge he had planned for the swordswoman was carried out.

It was obvious that the former sheriff had already spoken to Hershel about it as the older man didn't seem surprised by what he was saying the slightest. Amity on the other hand needed a moment to gather her thoughts and move past her knee jerk reaction of wanting to kick her friend in the shin for even considering doing something like that.

"Ya gonna tell 'em?" Daryl asked, talking to Rick though his eyes followed the redhead that was now muttering to herself a few steps away.

"Not till after." Rick replied. "We have to do it today. It has to be quiet."

"You got a plan?" Daryl asked him and Amity made her way back over, her face revealing nothing about what she was thinking and Daryl didn't miss the wary glance that Rick sent her way.

"We tell her we need to talk. Away from the others." Rick explained.

Daryl shifted at that. He wasn't comfortable with the thought of sending someone to their torture or death to save his own skin. It wasn't who he was.

"Just ain't us, man." The hunter told his friend.

"No. No, it isn't." Amity agreed, her voice harsher than Daryl's was.

"We do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies." Rick tried to explain.

"If you think that handing her over will stop the Governor for coming for us then you have deluded yourself, Rick!" Amity snapped, her wild mane of red hair making her look even more like a spitting wildcat than she usually did.

"He won't kill her, not for a long time. He'll keep her locked up, have whatever way he wants with her and then in his off time he will come for us. Handing her over doesn't change what's going to happen, but it does change who we are!" She told the three men though she locked her gaze on Rick, their eyes meeting as he tried to get her to calm down and see his point.

"I'm not a part of this." Amity said finally, shaking her head in disappointment before turning to storm back into the prison, ignoring Rick's call after her reminding her to keep everything to herself.

Upon entering the prison, she noticed that immediately Maggie was looking at her with confusion. The anger was obvious on Amity's face and the ginger quickly shook her head at her friend, not being able to talk about what was on her mind, so instead she headed for the door that would lead her to the rest of the prison.

She wandered aimlessly down the corridors until the sound of ripping fabric had her pausing, her hand on her machete as she carefully peered into one of the unused cellblocks and noted the fabric and fluff thrown everywhere from the mattresses.

Stepping quietly into the cellblock, Amity climbed the stairs until she spotted a familiar figure hunched over one of the mattresses in a cell, tearing it apart with the knife that took place of his missing hand.

"I am almost positive there is a neater way to have done this." Amity called out, causing the man to stop what he was doing and look over at her.

At first he seemed really confused and surprised to see her there but then the man carefully schooled his features into sleazy amusement.

"Neat isn't really my specialty, sugar." Merle told her, causing Amity to roll her eyes as she leaned against the railing of stairs. She had stopped on the topmost steps to watch him.

"What are you doing anyways?" She asked curiously.

"Just lookin' for something to get me outta this shit hole for a bit." Merle replied, pushing the mattress he had been digging through aside.

It took Amity longer than she would have liked to admit to understand what the man was alluding to, but once she had she shook her head at him.

"That's a sure fire way to make yourself walker bait." She said simply before shrugging and climbing the last couple of steps so that she was on the same level as him. "Good luck finding anything in here though. It was a tight ship, I heard about the crackdown on drugs in the prison from both the guards and prisoners. It was rare to come by much to some's disappointment."

At that Merle let out a noise of disapproval, kicking forlornly at one of the ripped up mattresses before he left the cell to approach her.

"What brought you in here, Princess? Missed ole Merle? Gettin' tired of my baby brother and wanted to give Dixon 1.0 a try?" He drawled out and Amity rolled her eyes at him, making a face as she shook her head.

She was learning to get less offended by the oldest Dixon brother. She had come to realize that it was just who he was to make sleazy jokes and jabs as a defense mechanism just like it was for Daryl to throw up walls and snap at people when they got too close.

The Dixons were always on the defensive.

"I just heard you in here when I was taking a walk." Amity explained but it didn't seem Merle was convinced.

"Were ya just walkin' or were ya runnin'?" He asked, obviously not meaning it in a literal sense.

Amity opened her mouth to speak but the sound of someone else entering the cellblock had both her and Merle turning their attention to the door where Rick was coming through. It took only a second for Amity to realize why the former sheriff was there and she couldn't stop the disbelieving scoff that left her mouth.

Merle looked at her with curiosity but Amity simply narrowed her eyes at Rick before she moved past Merle towards the stairs.

"You don't have to be the scapegoat anymore, Dixon. Remember that." Amity told Merle as she passed, not looking back at him as she went down the metal stairs to Rick.

She paused in front of the man, looking up at him with a bit of challenge behind her eyes.

"You make the decision, but you get someone else to do your dirty work? That's not you, Rick- and... it's a scary start." Amity told him lowly, seeing something flash behind the man's eyes before she was brushing past him and heading into the corridor once more.

She couldn't believe what their group was resorting to. She understood that decisions like that were hard to make, that sometimes the life of one didn't seem worth it when compared to the lives of many, but when a society started sacrificing for the greater good... well, the good so often ended up getting lost.

* * *

It was later in the day when Glenn had approached her with Daryl at his side, the hunter obviously more hesitant to do so than the younger man who had no idea about what had been discussed earlier that morning.

She looked between the men, Glenn looking at her with confusion as she searched the both of them more intensely than she had since the days when she was still getting used to being around people again.

"You good, Am?" Glenn asked, concern obvious in his tone and the redhead simply nodded, giving her friend the best smile that she could muster in hopes of reassuring him.

"Alright, well Daryl, Michonne, and I are going to take some of the traps that Michonne designed out into the yard on the truck. Beth's going to drive while Maggie and Carl go on the other side of the fence to distract as many as they can. You in?" Glenn asked.

"Yeah, I'm in. Of course." Amity said and Glenn nodded, still looking at her a bit too closely.

"Good, meet us in the yard. We're getting started in a few minutes." Glenn instructed before turning to leave, obviously expecting Daryl to come with him but the hunter hesitated.

"Go." Amity told him, nodding towards Glenn who had stopped a few paces away to wait, but Daryl just took another step towards her.

"It ain't us." He said quietly, finding her eyes as he tried to get her to see that he was on her side.

Daryl was made of sterner stuff than herself, that's what Amity would tell anyone who ever bothered to ask. While her morality and emotions were completely stopping her from being involved, the man's didn't halt him, but it didn't mean they weren't there. It was something that Amity feared made her weak, but she also feared was something that made Daryl cold.

The balance was nearly impossible to find.

"I'm not sure that's the truth anymore." Amity replied, giving another gesture to tell him to go on with Glenn before she turned to head into the cellblock to collect her weapons for the small expedition.

A few minutes later and Amity was perched on the tailgate of the truck, her feet dangling over the edge as she worked to keep herself balanced as to not fall prey to the few walkers that lingered around that were completely unbothered with Maggie and Carl's noise making.

As the truck rolled to a stop, Amity hopped off the back and immediately took out a nearby walker to clear a space for Daryl and Glenn to haul down one of Michonne's traps for the trucks that the Governor might drive in. They were designed and built to pop a few tires.

She stalked across the yard a ways to take out another geek that had been looking at the two men with hunger, bracing a foot on its chest once it went down so that she could yank her machete back out of its skull.

"Come on, girl!" She heard called from behind her in a familiar Southern drawl and turned to see that the few traps they had made had been unloaded and spread out like they had planned. Michonne was already climbing back in the cab of the truck so Amity quickly jogged her way over to the vehicle, dodging the outstretched arms of a walker that had Daryl tensing on the truck bed.

Glenn noted the movement and nudged the hunter's foot with his toe to get his attention.

"She's fine." He told the other man who simply nodded without saying anything on the subject, his eyes staying glued on the redhead until she hopped up onto the tailgate and Glenn smacked the top of the truck's cab a couple of times to get them moving.

"Took ya long enough." Daryl told the woman who looked back at him with amusement.

"Remind me to work on my cardio if I survive this thing, yeah?" She joked but as they pulled through the gate, it was obvious that Daryl hadn't found her words amusing.

"You'll survive it." The man said as he hopped over the side of the truck, coming around to the back to offer his shoulder for her to use to hop down from the truck bed.

It had become something of a ritual between them when she was perched somewhere and wasn't in too much of a hurry to get down. Her short stature made her habit of finding somewhere high up to sit a bit rough on her ankles when she leapt down, something that the observant hunter had of course noticed and started helping prevent without either of the pair thinking much of it.

"If they try to drive up to the gate again, maybe some blown tires will stop them." Glenn was explaining to Rick as the couple joined them, pausing at the younger man's side facing their leader.

"That's a good idea." Rick said with a nod.

"It was Michonne's." Daryl told him, his words heavy as he stared down the man in a way that had Amity realizing why she had become so fond of the rough and tumble redneck to begin with.

Daryl was many things, but he was never someone that wouldn't make their stance on something very clear whether he acted on his view or not. She knew that from the day he had tried to drive a pickaxe through Jim's head.

"We don't have to win." Michonne said as she approached the small group, obviously not picking up on the tension. "We just have to make their getting at us more trouble than it's worth."

Rick looked at her for a long moment before nodding his head, only being saved from his obvious guilt by the sound of a gate opening as Carl and Maggie came through it to join them.

"Let's go." Rick told everyone, nodding back towards the prison.

Amity lightly bumped her shoulder against Daryl's as a small show of approval for his words towards Rick before she took off to the front of the group where Carl was, leaning around him to push the front rim of his hat down so that it covered his eyes.

She laughed as the younger boy swatted at her, attempting to get her back for her actions as he chased her the rest of the way into the prison with the rest of the group following behind them more slowly, many smiling or shaking their heads in amusement at the two.

* * *

"Hey." Daryl called out as he entered the concrete yard and spotted Glenn over by one of the barred gates. "You seen Merle around?"

Glenn struggled with the gate after giving Daryl a look that said he didn't know or care if Merle was still breathing, let alone if he was nearby. Instead of picking a fight with his friend, Daryl moved forward, setting his crossbow down on a nearby table so that he could help loop a chain from around the broken gate and lock it into place.

"He say he was sorry yet?" Daryl asked the younger man, glancing over at him as he took a step back from the now secured gate. "'Cause he is."

Glenn said nothing to the man in return, instead moving to pick up a box of tools and walk over to the table Daryl had set his weapon on, putting it on the table top so he could search through it.

"He's gonna make it right." Daryl told Glenn, following after him. The whole situation didn't sit right with him still, that his brother had done what he had, but Merle was still his brother nonetheless.

Daryl felt like he had a real family for the first time in a long time, and he wanted every member of it to be able to coincide together. "I'm gonna make him. There's got to be a way... just needs to be a little forgiveness is all."

Glenn moved towards Daryl at that, seeing the hesitance and guilt in the older man's words and actions, but it didn't change anything.

"He tied me to a chair, beat me, and threw a walker in the room." Glenn reminded Daryl. "And maybe I could call it even, but he took Maggie and Amity to a man who terrorized them, _humiliated_ them. I care more about them, about Maggie, than I care about me. I thought you would feel the same way."

A beat of silence passed between the men before Daryl nodded once, not having the words to explain the thoughts that were running through his head as he turned and left Glenn. He had been battling with the situation that happened at Woodbury for a long time, trying to reconcile his feelings for Amity and for his brother in his head when Merle had hurt her like he did.

He _shot_ her for fuck's sake and if it was anyone else who had done it then Daryl knew the person would have already been dead.

Yet Amity was talking to Merle, trying for his sake more than her own and his brother hadn't even done a damn thing to settle the issue from what Daryl knew.

But that was going to change.

"Merle." Daryl called out as he wandered into one of the lower abandoned rooms of the prison.

"Ya down here?" He asked, raising his crossbow as a bunch of noise sounded but no reply came.

"Merle." Daryl said as he rounded the corner, finally spotting the older man and letting his crossbow dip with a bit of relief.

"Hey, little brother." Merle greeted, leaning against a workbench like table as if Daryl hadn't been calling out for him multiple times.

"What the hell?" Daryl asked.

"I was just about to holler back at ya." Merle excused.

"What ya doing down here?" Daryl questioned, blue eyes casting around the space.

"Just looking for a little crystal meth." Merle explained, not an ounce of shame in his voice which had Daryl giving him a look.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. That shit will mess my life up when everything is going _so_ sweet, right?" Merle said, chuckling darkly and Daryl resisted the urge to sigh at his nature.

"You talk to Rick yet?" He asked the older man.

"Yeah. Oh, yeah. Your girl some too, baby brother." Merle replied and Daryl was curious at that. He didn't know that Amity went to talk to Merle- the woman had stormed off before Rick said he was going to talk to him.

"I'm in." Merle continued, cutting through Daryl's confusion. "But, he ain't got the stomach for it. He's gonna buckle. Ya know that, right?"

"Yeah." Daryl agreed, trying to keep his tone neutral. If Rick went back on his decision, it wouldn't be a problem to Daryl. If anything it made everything that much easier. "If he does, he does."

"Ya want him to?" Merle asked, reading his brother like a book.

"Whatever he says goes." Daryl answered evasively.

Merle's expression shifted at that, the man going hard behind the eyes as he looked at him.

"Man." Merle sneered and Daryl watched him carefully. "Do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother?" He asked and Daryl moved away a bit, annoyed at the man ragging on him as he so often did.

"Are they even attached?" Merle went on. "I mean, if they are, they belong to you? Ya used to call people like that sheep. What happened to you?"

"What happened with you and Glenn and Maggie?" Daryl shot back. "What happened with Amity?" He added, voice a bit colder.

"I've done worse." Merle answered simply. "Ya need to grow up. Things are different now. Your people look at me like I'm the devil grabbing up those lovebirds and your girl like that, huh?" He growled, something shifting in him.

Daryl watched the man that he knew better than anyone else. He could see the weight of his actions weighing down on his older brother like a anvil resting on his shoulders.

"Now y'all want to do the same damn thing I did- snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me." He pointed out and Daryl dropped his gaze only for a moment. He had a point. "Yeah, people do what they gotta do or they die." Merle stated.

"Can't do things without people anymore, man." Daryl told him, voice quiet.

"Maybe these people need somebody like me around, huh? Do their dirty work. The _bad guy_." Merle sneered. "Red said that I didn't have to be a scapegoat anymore- she said it as soon as Officer Friendly stepped into the room. That girl reads people like a damn newspaper, I swear to God. She knew what was coming before he opened his mouth, but she was _wrong_. That's why I was brought here. Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh? How does that hit you?"

Daryl listened to his spiel with a heavy heart.

Growing up, Merle had made it clear to Daryl from the start that they only had one another to count on. That the rest of society, anyone with money or power or a nice car, saw them as nothing more than dirt under their shoes. Nothing more than a burden on society or a couple of dumb hicks who were worth nothing more than how well they could get their cars back to working order.

It had been a complex in Merle's mind long before it was in Daryl's and he could see how it had twisted the older man out of shape.

Even in the apocalypse Merle didn't believe he was worth anything more.

He didn't give himself a chance to be.

Daryl reached out, his hand resting gently on his older brother's shoulder before he gave it a small squeeze.

"I just want my brother back." He said softly, holding the pair of eyes that closely resembled his own.

"Get out of here, man." Merle said weakly and Daryl did as he was told, leaving his brother to think about what had passed between them.

* * *

Maybe it was a stupid idea but Amity didn't have the patience for triple-checking weapons or staring at the treeline while on watch.

She was bored to say the least and when the redhead was bored, she often found herself getting a bit more adventurous than she normally would have.

She moved around the building towards one of the back doors of the prison, planning on going in through the back and exploring some of the further in corridors of the prison, but she stopped in her tracks when the back door she was heading to slammed open.

She saw Merle before she saw the figure draped over his shoulder and once she did, she felt her heart drop to her feet.

 _Did he kill Michonne?_

Only after her initial panic passed did her brain catch up with her and she realized that Merle must have been carrying out the orders that Rick had went to him with.

"I thought I said you could be done being the scapegoat." Amity called out and watched as Merle froze, his eyes a bit wider than normal as he turned to look at her.

"Mind your own damn business, Red." Merle snapped and the redhead ignored him, choosing instead to move towards him.

Her mind was jumping back and forth between two options for her next move, but she realized as she approached the older man that Dixons apparently had the habit of making her stupid so she nodded towards one of the gates that would lead them out of the prison.

"If you're doing it, you're not doing it alone." She said simply but already Merle was shaking his head.

"Ya ain't comin', Princess. I don't need ya slowin' me down and my brother would throw a bitch fit if he found out-" Merle began, but Amity cut him off.

"The longer you flap your jaw, Dixon, the more likely he is to find out I'm gone." She said flatly, making it obvious that she was going along no matter how pissed it would make both of their brothers when they found out.

She held Merle's gaze for a long moment until finally the man seemed to give in as he turned and headed for the gate she had pointed out a few moments before.

As they stepped into the forest line, Amity watched as Merle scuffed over their tracks the best that he could while still holding Michonne, kicking up a few leaves to cover them before moving on.

It was a smart move with the likelihood of Daryl following them, but Amity dug her feet into the damp forest floor, stepping a bit harder than she had to as they continued.

She didn't know how she was going to stop Merle from turning over Michonne, but she knew that she would need Daryl on her side when she did. That meant that he had to be able to find them.

It was a good twenty minutes of walking, Merle hauling Michonne through the woods over his shoulder, until the woman began to come to.

They had just reconnected with the main road and Merle set Michonne down as she began to wiggle, cursing him until her feet hit the asphalt.

She was immediately on edge, looking at Amity with betrayal but the redhead just looked calmly back at her and Michonne seemed to understand what she was trying to convey. Amity hadn't just tagged along for Merle's sake, but for Michonne's as well.

She wasn't going to let _anyone_ be delivered to the Governor.

Over her dead body.

Merle got Michonne moving and the trio was back to putting distance between themselves and the prison.

"Governor made Rick an offer." Merle spoke up, obviously talking to Michonne. "Turn you over and we all give peace a chance. I agree with you, he would have blinked."

"But not you." Michonne said bitterly.

"I'm being straight with you." Merle reasoned after scoffing lightly.

"You were straight when you led me into the tombs." Michonne snapped.

"Okay, maybe I wasn't straight." Merle conceded with indifference.

"You put a bag over my head." Michonne said harshly.

"I got it done. He wouldn'ta." Merle told her. "Keep movin'."

Amity tried her best to be invisible in the conversation and to keep her mind off the fact that they were currently marching towards the worst person that Amity had ever met- and she worked with convicts.

"He was a guy that came back for me on that rooftop." Merle continued, talking about Rick. "Nah. It's all on me, ya know? I figure that's why I was back there in the first place. Do the dirty work."

The sound of a walker growling interrupted their small talk and Amity turned to see the walker stumbling towards them.

"May I?" Merle said, pulling Michonne's sword free of its sheath and the woman said nothing.

"I'll take that as a yes." Merle added with a fair bit of joy, but Amity stopped him with a small hand on his arm, gesturing for him to hand over the sword.

Merle seemed even more excited at the prospect of the small spitfire of a ginger wielding the sword so he handed it over almost immediately.

Amity looked to Michonne with a raised brow, asking her permission and the woman hesitated before nodding once. With that, Amity took off towards the walker at a jog, taking a deep breath before rearing back and swinging her arm forward to slice a perfect arc through the air and through the skull of the walker.

A chuckle sounded from beside her and it was only then that she realized Merle had followed her over to the geek. He looked between the walker and Amity, amusement and a small bit of pride in his eyes before he turned back to Michonne.

"Oh! You know what? I'd figured you would have run." He called over to the woman as he took the sword from Amity's hand, sheathing it.

"Wanted my sword back before I get away." Michonne said coldly, her tone not matching the dangerous smile that was on her lips. Her words pulled a laugh from Merle nonetheless.

"It may go down that way. But if I were you, I wouldn't get my hopes up." Merle told her as both himself and Amity crossed back through the small field they had ran into and over to her side.

"Move." Merle demanded, pushing the swordswoman forward as a soft sigh left Amity's lips.

She had to think of a way to get both Michonne and Merle back to the prison and fast.

* * *

Daryl stood geared up in the concrete yard, waiting for Rick to show up so they could carry out the Governor's demands. He bounced from the ball of one foot to the other, uncomfortable with what was going to happen, but he had a job to do.

He just wasn't wanting to see how Amity would look at him after it was all said and done.

Rick rounded one of the steel support beams of the walkways and interrupted the hunter's thoughts, the man stepping forward to meet his friend.

"It's off. We'll take our chances." Rick said, relieving Daryl more than he'd ever admit.

"I'm not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one." Daryl told him, smiling a bit until he caught the slightly panicked look on Rick's face.

"What's wrong?" He questioned.

"I can't find Merle or Michonne... or Amity." Rick admitted.

"What?" Daryl asked, his voice barely more than a hiss.

"They've gone." Rick confirmed.

Daryl pressed his lips together, adjusting his hold on his weapon before he nodded once, remembering where he had last seen his brother.

If Merle took Michonne than he wouldn't have put it past Amity to get involved and try to stop him, more than likely tagging along to undermine whatever the older Dixon had in mind.

"Come on." Daryl said simply, leading Rick towards the room he had talked to Merle in earlier.

"He was in here. Said he was looking for drugs." Daryl explained. "Said a lot of things, actually."

"Like what?" Rick asked as they split up, both looking for any signs of what happened.

"Said that you were gonna change your mind." Daryl informed him, spotting a large torn piece of cloth and going to crouch next to it.

"Here we go." He said, picking up the fabric and looking at the dusty floor around him. "Yeah, he took her here. They mixed it up."

"Damn it! I'm going after him." Rick announced, already heading for a door that would lead outside but Daryl stood and caught up with him.

"You can't track for shit." Daryl reminded him.

"Then the both of us." Rick suggested, but the hunter shook his head.

"Nah, just me." He reasoned, pushing the door open with his back. "I said I'd go and I'll go. Plus they're gonna come back here. Ya need to be ready. Your family, too. Mine's out there."

"We're here too." Rick reminded him.

Daryl nodded, looking at his friend for a moment longer before pushing his way out into the sunshine and jogging through the concrete yard.

He found the scuffed up dirt that showed Merle attempting to cover his tracks, but he caught sight of a heavier pair of bootprints off to the side. The grooves too deep to be from the tiny feet that made them unless someone was purposefully trying to leave a trail. Amity wasn't a born and bred tracker like himself, but she had brains for days and Daryl had never been more thankful for it than in that moment.

"I'll find ya, girl." He said to the empty woods, picking up his pace as he followed her tracks.

* * *

Miles were ate up under their feet in silence, the only sounds cutting through it were the birds and other natural noises from the woods lining the road around them.

That was until Merle started talking again.

"I want to be with my brother. My brother, he wants to be in the prison." He explained, casting a look Amity's way as he said that.

Amity wondered for a moment if the man resented her, if he blamed her for Daryl wanting to come back, for the man relying on more than just him now. Personally, she didn't think that was a fair assumption. She wholeheartedly believed that Daryl had done more for her than she had for him. He would have found his way to independence and leadership with or without her, but she wasn't so sure that she would have found a way to stop being so particular about how to survive and instead learning to _live_ without him.

"This little trip, maybe it'll keep that place standing. If I pull it off, maybe all is forgiven." Merle continued and that made Amity look at him.

Debating if he was seeking forgiveness for his actions in Woodbury or for something more.

"That's a whole lot of maybes." Michonne said simply.

Amity spotted the van nearby just as Merle did, the pair heading towards it as Michonne followed along.

"You got to play the hand you're dealt. I only got one." Merle reasoned.

The man jogged over to the car, pulling open the door and searched for the keys.

"I'll figure something out." Amity said quietly to the woman next to her, trying not to let Merle hear.

"You're going to get yourself hurt." Michonne countered with a hiss.

"He won't hurt me." Amity said quietly, completely confident in that.

"He has before." Michonne reminded her and Amity shook her head.

"That was before." She reasoned, shifting her weight away from Michonne as Merle slammed the van door shut, apparently not having found the keys.

As he approached the women, Michonne took a step forward towards him.

"You talk about the weight of what you have to do, how you can handle it." She said, voice strong in a way that had Amity jealous of it. "A bad man, someone truly evil- they're light as a feather. They don't feel a thing."

That Amity agreed with. Merle, she didn't believe him to be the devil or the snake that everyone else seemed to, and that was _after_ him shooting her.

"I've killed 16 men since all this went down." Merle said in response.

Just him knowing the number had Amity convinced of his guilt over it.

"Let's go." Merle snapped, moving to head towards the road.

The sound of walkers snarling had Amity's head whipping around to spot a small horde moving past the house and the trio picked up their pace, jogging swiftly back towards the road and out of sight.

Once they were a bit clear, Amity made sure to drop one of her many hair ties from her pocket onto the asphalt behind them.

* * *

"Alright. I think we're good." Merle announced as the trio jogged into the parking lot of a what used to be a small motel.

Amity tried to keep her breathing even, realizing that being at the prison had made her slack on her cardio- a fact that Michonne had warned her about before when she declined her offer to workout together. It was even something she had joked to Daryl about earlier that day.

The redhead was currently trying to ignore the smug looks Michonne was casting her way.

"Yeah, we're great." Amity gasped out.

"Come on." Merle directed, leading them over to the motel.

Amity watched as he wrapped the wire Michonne was attached to around one of the beams and she moved to take a seat on the hood of an old car, waiting for Merle to hotwire a vehicle like he was apparently planning to.

She traded a look with Michonne once Merle had disappeared into a car, the woman obviously wanting Amity to untie her but now the redhead was doubting how well doing so would go.

They needed Daryl to keep Merle cool, she didn't think he would hurt her but she wasn't as confident that he wouldn't harm Michonne or that Michonne wouldn't harm him.

The sound of an engine roaring to life had Amity glancing over towards the now running car until an alarm started blaring from it. She flinched down, covering her ears for a moment before panic set in.

"For fuck's sake, Merle!" She snapped, pulling her machete from her belt as she looked at the walkers emerging from the woods around them.

"Amity." Michonne called out to her, her voice low and warning.

Amity backed up towards the woman, unsure of what to do until a walker stumbling out of one of the nearby motel rooms made up her choice for her.

"Shit." She hissed out, moving to protect Michonne and tackled the walker back into the room, falling on top of it and ignoring Michonne's yell of her name since the woman could no longer see the redhead.

"Merle!" Michonne was yelling now, trying to get the man out of the car to help them.

Amity struggled with the walker on the floor of the motel room, using all of her strength to keep its teeth away from her face and throat.

"Get... off!" She yelled, letting out a grunt of effort as she pushed the thing to the side and quickly snatched up her fallen machete to drive through its skull.

By the time she was stumbling out of the motel room covered in the walker's blood, Merle was rushing forward to cut though Michonne's wire keeping her attached to the pole.

"Come on!" He yelled at them, running towards the car.

Amity threw herself into the backseat just as Michonne did the same to the passenger seat, and only once inside did Amity take in gulps of air, trying to still her pounding heart.

They were out tearing out of the parking lot and onto the road a few moments later.

"Ya alright, Red?" Merle called over his shoulder, trying to adjust the rearview mirror so that he could see the woman who hadn't said a word since they got into the car. She had simply laid across the backseat, breathing steadily in and out like she was being paced. "Ya bit?" He asked, a hint of concern in his voice that Amity wrote off to the fact that Daryl would kill him if she was.

"You wish, Dixon." She told him, her voice a bit shaky but loud enough to instill confidence in her being okay. She was pleased to hear Merle chuckle in response.

"So is this your thing, then?" Michonne asked Merle after she had turned around in her seat herself to check out Amity's state of being, the redhead giving her a thumbs up when she had. "You take out the trash?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, darlin'." Merle drawled out, making a joke out of it as a defense mechanism.

"Defense mechanism." Amity chimed in, not being able to stop herself in that moment. "You're like clockwork, Dixon."

"Can it, sugar." Merle snapped at her though his words held little heat.

"The Governor, Rick, anyone who needs their piss bucket emptied and you come a-running." Michonne continued, not allowing herself to be put off by their bickering. "Things are different for your brother."

"Yeah, they are. Rick says jump and he wants to know how high." Merle said, trying to sound disgusted with it, but Amity knew better. Both she and Merle knew better than to think Daryl was anybody's bitch. He wasn't, but he was damn loyal.

"Rick needs him. Respects him. He didn't ask him to do this little job, now, did he?" Michonne pointed out.

"No, 'cause he wants it done." Merle countered.

"You keep telling yourself that." Michonne said coldly. "The truth is this could have been your shot. With your skills, a whole new beginning, but you choose to stay on the outside. No one's gonna mourn you, not even Daryl. He's got a new family." She shot a pointed look to where Amity was laying in the backseat, the woman missing the action due to how she was laying but not the words.

"You keep trying to get under my skin, I'm gonna cut that tongue out." Merle threatened and Amity considered sitting up to intervene, but she figured they needed to hash this out themselves. Clear the air between them if she was going to get both of them back to the prison together. "Your buddy's turning you over 'cause he's trying to save his own ass. You're as much on the outside as I am, girl."

"Maybe." Michonne conceded. "But once the Governor's done with me, at least I won't have to live with myself."

"You said you killed 16 men since this thing started? You ever kill anyone before?" She asked after another moment of silence had taken over the car.

"No." Merle responded simply.

"And how about before Woodbury? Before you met him?" She questioned, but gained no response leading both women in the car to their own assumptions.

"Huh." Michonne said. "So he saves your life, cleans you up, fed you a line of bullshit- why would you kill somebody else for him?" She wondered.

"You know, we can go back." Amity chimed in from the backseat, trying to feel out the environment of the car as she slowly sat up.

"Ain't happenin'." Merle snapped.

"All of us. We can just go back." Amity said, her voice even and soothing as she leaned forward between the seats.

"I can't go back. Don't you understand that?" Merle said loudly, causing Amity to jump a bit. "I can't."

"Why?" Michonne asked him.

Merle brought the car to a stop at her question, turning to look at the woman before reaching over and cutting her hands free. Amity's brows shot towards her hairline in response.

 _Their little speech had worked? They were going back?_

"Y'all go back with them." Merle told Michonne, and that's when Amity realized that nothing was ever that easy. Not when there was a Dixon involved.

"Get ready for what's next. I got something I got to do on my own." He explained.

Michonne held his gaze for a moment before she climbed out of the car and Merle handed her the katana she always carried. The dark-skinned woman looked towards the backseat once she was out on the road, obviously expecting Amity to join her but that wasn't the case.

The redhead shimmied her way over the center console and plopped down in the passenger's seat- not trusting Merle to not speed off without her if she actually got out of the car.

"What the hell do ya think you're doing, Red?" Merle asked her and Amity gave him a flat look.

"What does it look like, Dixon? Wherever you go, I go." Amity said as if it was obvious.

"Amity, you can't-" Michonne began from her place outside the car but the woman simply reached to pull the door shut, giving the other woman a small smile.

"Tell Daryl to stay put when he catches up, would you?" She requested and Michonne paused before simply nodding, knowing Amity well enough by then to know that she wasn't going to get out of that car. Amity closed the door once she got her confirmation.

"Ya can't come with me." Merle told her. "Get outta the damn car!"

"Nope- either drive, Dixon or let Michonne back in and we'll go back to the prison together." She said and the man smacked his good hand hard onto the steering wheel, letting out a noise of frustrated anger.

"Of course Darylina had to pick a stubborn bitch to chase after." He snapped, pushing down the gas hard enough to have the tires squealing as they left Michonne behind them.

"Damn right he did." Amity agreed with a smile.

* * *

When Daryl found Michonne, she was standing in a field shoving her katana through a decapitated walker skull. He jogged over to the woman, a pink hair tie looped over the end of his crossbow looking extremely out of place.

"Hey!" He called out, jogging across the field towards the familiar woman. "Where's Amity and my brother? You kill him?"

Michonne shook her head in response and Daryl got a bad taste in his mouth. Something about the situation wasn't sitting right with him and worry bubbled up in his stomach.

"He let me go." Michonne explained.

Daryl began to move, quickly pushing past the swordswoman but she held out a hand to stop him.

"Amity said to tell you to stay put." She informed him and the hunter couldn't help but scoff at that.

"She knows better than that." He reasoned, shaking his head and moving again.

"Don't let anyone come after me." He called back over his shoulder as he picked up his pace, his crossbow balanced in his hands.

He tried to push down the sick feeling that was welling inside of him, but it was a hard task with both Merle and Amity together and potentially doing something stupid. He wasn't sure how his brother drug Amity into it, but the man was going to get an earful once he caught up with him.

* * *

The first place that Merle drove them was to a liquor store and the sight of the building nearly made Amity laugh.

"If you wanted a drink that bad, Merle, we could have picked something up on a run." Amity told him, trying to keep her voice light as she figured there was way more to come than just a bottle of whiskey.

Merle said nothing as he stopped the car and climbed out, Amity following him only as far as the porch as she waited for him to pick his poison. Turns out that he picked hers as well.

The man handed her a bottle of Tennessee Honey Whiskey and the redhead actually did laugh then as she returned to the car, climbing in the passenger seat as he rolled the windows down a small bit.

"How'd you guess?" She asked him, settling back into the seat and screwing off the top.

"Ya look the type." He said and she shrugged, tossing back a swig and letting out a satisfied noise.

She watched him down a few large swallows from his own bottle before leaning forward and turning on the radio, the music blaring ridiculously loud but she couldn't be bothered to complain. She wasn't sure what Merle was doing, but she had made the choice to stick it out with him until the end and she was going to do so.

"This is your last chance to bail, princess." Merle told her, nodding towards the group of walkers that were now stumbling towards their vehicle thanks to the loud music.

"I ain't goin' anywhere, Dixon." Amity replied, dropping the polished accent she always used and watched with pleasure as Merle looked at her with a bit of shock.

"Well I'll be damned, here I thought your brother was just adopted from the South by a nice middle-class family of yanks." Merle said, laughing as he took another drink.

"Got it all wrong. Born and raised in Georgia- my daddy owned a farm, well, more like a ranch I guess. Michael and I helped him run it from the day we could each walk. Mikey stuck around, but I decided I had better things to do with my life than wrangle cattle. Instead I went off the the fanciest college I could get into. Left Georgia as fast as I could just like my momma and tried my damnedest not to look back." Amity explained.

"I didn't ask for your life story, sugar." Merle drawled out, making Amity laugh.

"I guess ya didn't." She agreed, knocking back another gulp of the whiskey before Merle shifted the car out of park and began to slowly move along.

It didn't take Amity long after that to figure out what was going on, what Merle was planning to do.

"Regrettin' it yet, Red?" He asked her once the barn with the large silos was in sight and they had a sizable horde of walkers following them along.

"I'm not the regrettin' type." Amity chimed back, smiling wildly over at the man who let out a small chuckle in return.

"Then jump out when I say." He told her and she nodded, setting the bottle of whiskey aside and readying herself.

At his signal she rolled out of the slow moving car, the fall only hurting her injured arm slightly and she quickly darted off to a nearby shed type structure, not bothering to try to get through the walkers towards where Merle had went.

She hunkered down under one of the windows, glad it was broken as she pulled her gun from her belt and readied herself to follow Merle's lead as the idling car came to a stop and Woodbury men suddenly came from around the buildings to investigate.

They took one look at the car and then the walkers that followed and began to move forward to take them down. As the first Woodbury man dropped seemingly at random, Amity realized that Merle was picking them off and took a deep breath before readying herself to do the same. She had less of a visual on the chaos outside than it seemed that Merle had, though she wasn't exactly sure where the man had hidden himself.

She shot three Woodbury men before she heard Merle's yelling.

"Damnit." She cursed to herself and acted without even considering what could happen- a bit of de ja vu coming back to her.

She followed the yelling to a building nearby and took out one of the Woodbury men outside the place as he turned his gun on her. Martinez stood looking at her with shock, their guns pointed at one another and she heard Merle's raspy voice from inside.

It was hard to hear what he was saying over the gunfire from rest of the Woodbury soldiers killing the walkers they had brought along.

"I don't wanna kill ya, Martinez." She said, her aim not wavering as she spoke and the man seemed torn. She took a step forward and he raised his gun a bit more, threatening her if she came closer but as a gunshot rang out Amity paid the man no mind and sprinted forward.

She came to a stop inside the doorway, her blue eyes wide and trained on the crumpled figure of the man who she had just been drinking with moments before.

"No!" Her denial of reality left her in a scream that tore at her throat, the sound being one that she hadn't known she could make as her knees threatened to crumple beneath her.

He couldn't be _dead_. Merle couldn't just die, not after they were just mending whatever had happened between them. They were supposed to go back to the prison. In and out, but she realized only then that maybe she hadn't understood Merle's plan as well as she thought she had.

It was a suicide mission from the start.

A gun being pointed at her brought her out of her grief as she stumbled a step back out of the barn, the Governor following after her. Only a small group of his men were left in the clearing between the barns, all of them watching the Governor push her back with his presence alone.

"You should have learned the first time." The man said darkly, his eyes emotionless in a way that shook Amity to her core.

She had no warning before he raised his gun, the shot ringing out and she felt a searing heat in her abdomen. She barely felt the rocks and grass beneath her knees as she fell to them, her hands that had automatically went to her stomach rising in front of her so that she could see the thick redness that covered them. Cornflower blue eyes cast around the group as they watched her- some observing her with pity and others with fear and disgust. Martinez looked paler than she had ever seen him, his face stricken. She finally found the face of the man who shot her and noted that there was still nothing behind his eyes, not even as he watched her bleed out in front of him.

"Let's go." The man told his soldiers, his voice sounding like it was echoing through a large room to Amity.

Footsteps faded and engines rumbled in the distance and then there was nothing but silence.

She fell to her side, her breaths coming out in gasps as she tried to remember what it was like without the terrible pain coursing through her. Her ears were ringing and a cough wracked her body painfully, sending blood splattering from her lips across the dirt before the sound of soft growls reached her ears.

In her dazed state, the woman could barely remember what that noise meant but it seemed her body did since though she was weak and losing blood fast, she was crawling her way from the clearing and into a building that she could only hope was safe.

 _Merle was dead. He was dead._

She scooted herself across the ground, her fingertips digging into the soft dirt as she struggled to keep moving.

 _Daryl's brother was dead._

She found herself on concrete and didn't know when she made it to the building, but she continued to pull herself inside and laid back against the door, hoping that it would keep her from becoming walker bait as the growls grew louder outside.

 _Dead. He was dead._

A choked sob tore through her chest, the motion seizing her body painfully but she was convinced the pain coursing through her had little to do with the bullet wound or the blood that was pouring out of her body.

 _She was alone and Merle was dead._

Black pricked at the edges of her vision and the redhead had barely a moment to realize what was coming before she was crumpling to her side, the adrenaline finally leaving her to succumb to her fatal wound.

 _Daryl was going to be devastated when he found Merle._

 _Daryl._

* * *

The sight that Daryl was met with as he approached the barn and silos was nothing promising.

Corpses laid strewn out across the ground, many with other corpses munching on them, but they didn't bother the nearly silent hunter so he didn't bother them.

He made his way further into the area, blue eyes scanning for either of the two familiar figures he feared he would see amongst the dead.

It wasn't until he rounded a bend and spotted a car, pausing to take out one walker munching on a corpse that had his heart stopping in his chest for only a moment that he turned and spotted the man who he had thought was laying on the ground stumbling out of one of the buildings.

Daryl met the blue eyes of his brother before the man pitched forward suddenly and the younger Dixon was sprinting towards him. He dropped to his knees beside of him, rolling him over and taking a look at his wound.

"You're gonna be alright, Merle. Ya hear me?" Daryl told the older man, making quick work of ripping part of Merle's overshirt off to wrap around his torso and bind his wound the best he could.

"Come on, big brother. On your feet." He said, standing and looping one of the older man's arms over his shoulders, helping him stumble over to a nearby abandoned car.

Daryl saw Merle down in the passenger seat, reaching across him and twisting the key in the ignition and was thanking anyone and everyone out there when it roared to life.

He went to step back and close the door, but his brother's hand fisted in his shirt and made him pause.

"She was with me." The man slurred and Daryl's blood froze in his veins at his words.

He had hoped that by not seeing Amity it meant that she was on her way back just as Michonne had been, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

"I'll find her." Daryl assured Merle, knowing he had to be fast and closed the car door to protect the injured man from the few walkers still chomping away.

The hunter moved into the center of the clearing, hoping with everything in him that Amity was safe and not in the hands of the psycho he had swore would never touch her again. His skilled eyes scanned the ground as he walked until he saw what he was looking for.

A large blood splatter covered the ground and showed that someone had been shot there. It could have been Merle or any of the other men and walkers around, but the small stature of the person who had left scuff marks on the ground had him thinking otherwise. With his heart pounding in his throat, Daryl followed the blood trail and dragging marks to one of the nearby buildings.

He pushed at the door but it wouldn't budge easily. Figuring she must have barricaded herself in, Daryl shoved his weight against the door until he could slip inside and nearly crumpled at the sight before him.

A familiar redhead was laying on the floor behind the door, a large puddle of blood surrounding her petite figure. The hunter knelt down next to her, his hand going to check her pulse and a noise of relief that he wasn't positive wasn't a sob left him as the faintest of heartbeats pulsated beneath his fingertips.

"I got ya, girl." He said quietly as he stripped off his jacket and vest to tear off the shirt underneath it, wrapping the sleeves around her to bind the nasty wound on her stomach. "You're gonna be right as rain once I get ya back to Hershel." He muttered, scooping the small woman up into his arms once his jacket was back on and he had his crossbow slung over his shoulder.

"Ya can't go leavin' me now. You can't make me fall for ya then just leave." He whispered as he carried her towards the car, her body hanging limply in his arms as he repeated the words she said to him just before he left with Merle.

As carefully as he could, Daryl laid the woman across the backseat of the car before throwing himself into the driver's seat.

He was careful as he pulled out of the barnyard, but once he was on open road the speedometer pressed towards the right side more and more. His entire world was in that car and it was hanging on by a string- he wasn't going to let him taking his time be the thing that cut it.


	21. Chapter 21

Waking up was a slow process for Amity on days when she had been just simply sleeping, but waking up from a wound like the one she had received was a different story.

It started with the faintest twitch of her fingers, the digits curling slightly inward as her mind faded out of darkness and became a bit more aware of the body that it resided in.

Mentally, Amity did a quick check over on herself before she opened her eyes. She lightly wiggled her toes, making sure she had feeling before she began to stretch her fingers out wide. In response to that action, the scraping of a chair sounded from nearby and Amity's eyes shot open, her body moving automatically to defend which sent a sharp jolt of pain through her. Her head was pounding along with the throb in her stomach- the mix being too much for the redhead and she found herself retching, a bucket held under her face by an unknown as she did so. It turned out that there wasn't much for her to empty out in the first place.

"Easy, Bug." The person spoke, the voice putting Amity automatically at ease as a large hand gently ran a soothing path down her spine.

Once Amity was sure that she wasn't going to continue trying to empty out the contents of her stomach, she fell back against the bed on which she had been laying, her face tight with pain.

"You hurtin' bad?" Michael asked, looking at the woman with obvious concern.

The older man looked like he hadn't slept in days- the dark circles under his eyes telling Amity how far his worries for her had stretched.

"Nah." Amity dismissed, trying to keep her voice steady but Michael simply scoffed in response, seeing straight through his sister's lie.

"I'll get Hershel." He told her, moving to the door but Amity's following noise of protest had him stopping in his tracks.

"Don't- Don't go. Please... I- stay with me." She requested, stumbling over her words as a fair amount of panic took over.

The thought of being left alone brought back the feeling of terror that had her pupils blown out as she suddenly remembered all that had happened. The train of undead, the burn of whiskey as she tossed it back with Merle.

 _Merle_.

She felt the tears well in her eyes before she could even think to stop them and it was like a homing signal for the man in the cell with her. Immediately, Michael was kneeling at her side, one thick arm wrapping gently around her shoulders as a sob wracked through her, making her whimper in pain.

"I-I tried to- I couldn't get there. Martinez wouldn't fucking _move_." She said through her tears, her words a jumbled mess of nothingness. "I need to tell Daryl."

"Bug, Daryl knows whatever happened. He's the one that found y'all." Michael said, trying to soothe over whatever Amity was battling with.

The woman tensed in his arms and he looked down at her just as Amity was shoving him away, small hands pushing against his broad chest.

"Y'all? He found Merle?" She asked, her voice breaking with the devastation she was feeling for the hunter who had just lost his brother.

"Found him before he found you apparently." Michael told her, voice still soft as he didn't understand why the woman was so upset but he figured it just had to do with her traumatic injury.

"That's _terrible_." Amity said, her voice thick with the tears that still poured down her cheeks as her breath stuttered in her chest, making her feel more unhinged than she already did.

"I thought you and him were gettin' along now?" Michael asked her, a bit shocked that his sister would think that the man being saved was a bad thing. "He's been in here to see you a couple of times. His ass wouldn't stay in bed no matter what Hershel's been tellin' him."

Blue eyes stared at the former rancher with absolute shock and confusion, silence falling between the siblings as Amity tried to process what exactly her brother was telling her. Nothing about what he said made any sense.

"Merle's dead." She stated finally, her voice firm as her crying halted due to her shock.

A look of understanding passed over Michael's face before the man was shaking his head, a small smile playing over his lips.

"He ain't." He informed the woman. "Annoyin' as hell? Sure, but he ain't dead."

Amity stared at her brother for a moment longer before she was moving, attempting to throw her legs over the edge of the bed so that she could confirm his words for herself.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, kid. Are you crazy or somethin'?" Michael asked her, moving to stop her from getting up which had her narrowing her eyes in his direction.

"What?" She asked snippily.

"You can't get up. You're hurt, you need to eat. You've been out of commission for nearly a week, Bug." Michael told her and his revelation seemed to do the trick of stopping the woman, letting him resituate her on the bunk.

"A week?" She echoed, voice quiet and she watched as Michael gave a confirming nod.

"Been real worried about you." Michael told her, his voice strained as he reached to gently touch her cheek, his thumb ghosting over the scar that pulled one corner of her mouth up ever so slightly. "That redneck has nearly driven everyone batshit crazy."

"It's weird hearing you of all people referring to someone as a redneck." Amity quipped, not being able to control her immediate defensiveness for the hunter. "Pot calling the kettle black."

"No one better to do it than the pot." Michael reasoned. "But there's a difference between his sort of country and our sort." He added, making Amity purse her lips a bit as she looked at her brother. She knew there was some truth to it- ranchers and backwoods rednecks all held a different sort of lifestyle under the Southern brand, but she didn't like how people referred to Daryl as a redneck, even if it was true. It wasn't the fact that they said it, but more of _how_ they said it. It seemed that many times people used it as an insult instead of just a descriptive title which was something she wasn't going to let slide- not around her.

"Your sort." Amity corrected and Michael rolled his eyes before moving to stand, holding out a consoling hand when he noted the bit of panic return to her eyes.

"Just goin' to the door to get Hershel." He reassured, waiting until Amity nodded her permission for him to move before doing so.

He leaned heavily against the doorframe of the cell, blue eyes scanning the space until he spotted Hershel standing across the way with Beth and Rick.

"Hershel." Michael called out and watched as everyone in the cellblock froze.

He heard footsteps stomping heavily down the stairs letting him know that Merle was interested in what was going on while Maggie peeked in through the door to the common area, looking at him with a bit of hope.

"She's awake." He told everyone, the former veterinarian immediately hobbling over on his crutches as Maggie smiled widely, looking to her sister and Rick who seemed equally as pleased.

"Maggie, get Daryl from watch, would you?" Rick asked and Maggie looked a bit put out as she had been rushing towards Michael, but nodded anyways and turned back around to leave the space.

Amity looked up from her hands when she caught a second figure in the doorway in her peripherals, Hershel having had made his way over.

"How's it going, Hershel?" She asked as the older man entered the room, a gentle smile on his face that she found herself returning without a second thought.

"It's definitely better now." The man told her, reaching out to take her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

Amity did a mental sweep of her body once more now that she was fully awake, taking note of her aches and pains.

"I feel like I've been run over by a truck, then the driver threw it in reverse out of spite." Amity informed him, pulling a laugh from the man and the two men that were now in the doorway, Rick having joined Michael to watch the check-up.

"Hiya, Sheriff." Amity greeted with a smile, making the man return it with one of his own.

"Good to see you awake, Am." Rick told her sincerely.

"Good to be awake." Amity said in return, moving to fully lay back at Hershel's request.

She gently tugged her shirt up to rest just below her breasts as the doctor mentioned needing to see her wound and change her bandages. She eyed the red-stained gauze that was wrapped around her stomach with interest, the thought of being wounded being a strange concept in her mind. She felt the pain and she knew that she had been shot, but she had to wrestle a bit with the idea that she really had _survived_ being shot. She never thought she would be breathing with a bullet hole in her, let alone the two healing ones she had now.

Just as Hershel was peeling back the bandages, Amity heard a bit of noise at the cell door and glanced over to see that Daryl had pushed his way through the small crowd now outside her door. Michael took a step back to leave room for the hunter to step through, the man doing so a bit hesitantly before his eyes met hers and a relieved look passed over his face.

"Hey." She greeted, feeling a bit breathless at the sight of him standing there in front of her.

"Hey." He rasped out, his voice a bit thicker than she was expecting.

Georgia blue eyes dropped from her face after a moment, tension entering the hunter's body so obviously to her when he spotted the now exposed gunshot wound that marred her slender figure.

"I should give you a fuckin' earful here and now." Daryl growled out suddenly, making Amity narrow her eyes at him before Rick and Michael both moved to intervene but her words cut them off.

"Then why don't you?" She challenged, heat sparking behind her eyes.

She watched the man suck in a deep breath through his nose, his fingers flexing over the crossbow that was gripped in one of his hands as usual. He glanced at the small group behind him before shaking his head slightly and leaning back against the wall just inside the door, apparently done with discussing the topic of her actions for the moment.

Amity looked at him for a long moment before rolling her eyes then flinching slightly as Hershel prodded a particularly tender spot on her stomach.

"Sorry, but you look like you're healing well. Being out for as long as you were actually did you some good since it gave your wound time to heal without you straining it." Hershel informed her, bandaging her stomach back up before patting her knee gently and rising to his feet.

"She needs to eat- slowly and only a bit for right now." He told the group at the door, not caring who made sure it happened as long as it did so.

"I've got it covered." A voice chirped from the back of the group.

Michonne and Glenn shuffled out of the way and Carol came into the cell, a bowl in her hands with a pack of crackers balanced across the top.

Without a word, the woman handed the spoils over to Daryl who looked a bit self-conscious of the fact Carol had assumed he would be the one helping the woman since all eyes were now on him. Carol simply smiled slyly, crossing over to Amity in order to press a kiss to the top of her head and tell her that she was glad to see that she was feeling better.

"Come on, y'all. We've still got a lot to do around here." Rick told everyone, gesturing for the rest of the crowd to start leaving the cell as himself and Carol did.

After a moment, Daryl and Amity were left alone and both weren't sure what to say for a moment.

"You need to get some food in ya." Daryl said suddenly, moving to carry the bowl over to her after setting down his crossbow next to the doorway.

He snagged the chair that Michael had been sitting in when she first woke up and drug it over beside of the bed, plopping down on it and leaning forward to hand her the bowl. Amity was careful about balancing the dishware in her hand, not wanting to put too much pressure on her wound by resting it on her stomach.

She took the spoon that was sitting in the bowl as Daryl set the crackers aside and took a generous bite of the stew that sat within it, suddenly ravenous.

"Slowly, girl." Daryl scolded softly, moving to gently rest his hand on her's to still it as she went to shove another spoonful in her mouth without even having finished the first.

Heat blossomed in her cheeks as her eyes dropped from him, a bit embarrassed at her actions but Daryl simply snorted lightly, amused with her.

"At least you're hungry. The old man was worried ya wouldn't be once he got some pain medicine in ya." Daryl explained.

"Doesn't feel like he has any pain medicine in me." Amity replied, making a bit of a face before seeing the look behind the hunter's eyes.

"I'm fine, Dixon." She added, her voice softer as she did so.

The man was quiet for a moment, his eyes scanning over every dip and swell of her face and the redhead took a bite of her food, feeling a bit self-conscious under his piercing gaze.

"Why'd ya do it?" He asked suddenly and she finished chewing her food, swallowing it before replying.

"Do what?" She asked.

"Go with him. Ya could have went with Michonne. She said that he let her go and was wanting you to go too." Daryl clarified, his eyes now holding her gaze, searching it for something.

Amity took another bite of the stew, letting herself have a moment to think over the question which wasn't the easiest to answer.

"He couldn't go alone." She told him finally, but Daryl shook his head at that.

"He coulda." He argued.

"I couldn't _let_ him go alone. I couldn't let you lose him again without trying to keep him safe... and I failed at doing that in the end." Amity said, looking down into her bowl before moving to set it aside, her appetite gone.

"Ya didn't fail at doin' nothin', Red." A voice said from the doorway and Amity looked over to see the eldest Dixon standing there, his blue eyes on her as his brow furrowed.

She had known logically that he was alive, she didn't think that her brother would have lied to her about that, but seeing him alive and hearing that he was alive were two different things.

"You were dead." Amity told him, her voice strained as she tried to argue with the man.

"I wasn't and I ain't." Merle replied easily, moving into the room and coming to a stop next to his brother who looked torn at his presence in the room.

"He shot you."

"He shot ya too."

"I saw you. You weren't moving."

"I am now."

Amity huffed in response to the man's fast retorts, Merle laughing in response to the action.

"Listen to me, Red." Merle started, moving to sit on the edge of her bed with a bit of pain flickering across his face from the action. He sat directly in Daryl's way, the older man knowing as much which had the pained look being replaced with a bit of amusement as he knew his little brother would be annoyed with his actions. "It wasn't your damn job to keep me safe. I'm a grown ass man and I'll be keepin' myself safe. You worry about your sweet ass and I'll worry about mine."

Amity couldn't help but roll her eyes at his words.

"We're a family, Merle. There's no watching out for only yourself, not anymore." Amity told him, holding his eyes even as she watched shock and something else pass through them.

"You're a dumbass. If brains were leather than ya wouldn't have enough to saddle a damn Junebug." Merle drawled out after having recovered from her statement.

"Appreciate it." Amity said with a wicked smile, pulling another laugh from the man as he stood up with a wince.

"Better go before my baby brother here starts his bitchin'." Merle said, flashing a smile at Daryl who glared at him. "Come visit ya later, sugar. Let me know when the jailer ain't around."

With that, Merle dipped out through the cell door and Amity couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her at the look on Daryl's face.

"Grows on you, doesn't he?" She asked him and the man looked at her like he wasn't sure what to do with her.

"Like mold. Now shuddup and eat your dinner." He told her, shaking his head lightly.

* * *

After she ate, Amity didn't have to do much convincing in order to keep Daryl in her cell.

The man filled her in on everything going on though she could tell he was sparing her some details here and there.

"So, has anyone spotted any of Woodbury's men along the treeline?" She asked, getting a shake of his head in response.

"Not a hair of anyone besides walkers." He explained and Amity smiled lightly at that.

"We've got everything packed up though. Needed a backup plan for if things go to shit." Daryl added and Amity nodded, figuring as much.

"I think the plan will work." She said confidently, knowing that her people would make it work and the man sitting next to the bed simply grunted in acknowledgement of her words.

They may not have the weapons or the numbers, but they were definitely craftier than Woodbury.

"So where am I going to be?" She asked and Daryl hesitated only a fraction of a second before answering.

"You're going to drive out with Carl, Beth, Hershel, and Lil Asskicker." He told her and Amity's eyes immediately narrowed in response.

"What?" She hissed and Daryl held her gaze steadily.

"Girl, you were _shot_. Ya need to be restin' anyways, but we can't afford to leave ya in the prison in case you're found. The next best thing is out there with them." He informed her and Amity shook her head, pushing to sit up fully and suppressing a wince of pain as she did so.

Swatting at his hands that reached out to press her back down, she settled back against her pillows as she couldn't maintain sitting forward for very long without the pain being too much to handle.

"I can at least be up on the catwalk with Maggie." She insisted and Daryl shook his head.

"Shooting a machine gun would be too much strain on your wound." He countered evenly.

"What about Merle?" She asked, throwing a hand out to gesture towards the door of the cell that the aforementioned man had went through a while before.

"He ain't gonna stay put- best to have him with me. He's been up on his feet longer than you have anyways." He said and Amity let out a huff of frustration.

"Listen, Cherry. Ya need to shut your trap for once and _listen_. Ya need rest and we need to defend this place. Ya need to be out there with them and make sure that if shit hits the fan they can get out and have a chance with you watchin' their backs." Daryl told her, his small rampage letting her know that he meant business since he bothered to say that much at once.

Daryl Dixon tended to be a man of one word answers and more than occasional grunts.

Cornflower blue eyes racked over the hunter's expression as the woman searched for any sign that he didn't mean what he said and was simply using that as an out to keep her from the action, but she found nothing but harsh honesty that had her sighing to herself.

"Fine, _fine_." She said finally and saw a bit of the tension the man had been holding in his shoulders relax away. "But I'm not playing babysitter again, Dixon. You hear me?"

The smallest of crooked grins pulled at the older man's lips, nearly making the whole ordeal worth the sight to Amity as he inclined his head slightly towards her.

"Yes m'am." He replied, a teasing edge to his words that had Amity feigning annoyance with him.

After rolling her eyes, she allowed herself to slide back down her pillows a bit, inclining more than she had been.

"So when are we heading out?" She asked and Daryl cast a look over his shoulder towards the barred window that gave a glimpse to the outside world.

"First light." He replied.

With a nod, Amity stretched out the best she could in order to grab the man's hand, wrapping her pale and slender fingers around his thicker dirtier ones and gave them a small squeeze.

"I'm ready to be able to call this place home." She admitted, forcing herself not to drop her gaze out of sheepishness when he turned his eyes back onto her.

A moment of silence passed between the pair before Daryl nodded slightly, Amity taking that as a sign of agreement with what she said before he was rising out of the chair. The redhead clutched his hand, refusing to let it go as he stood and tugged lightly on it when he looked at her with confusion.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"To bed, girl. We got alotta shit to do tomorrow." He replied, giving her a look that said it was obvious.

"Stay with me." She requested, blue eyes wide as she looked up at him in a way that had his resolve weakening while his mind berated himself for being a pussy.

"Don't wanna mess up yer stitches." He excused, but Amity just shook her head.

"They'll be fine."

"Ya don't-"

"Damnit, Dixon, just lay the fuck down with me!" Amity insisted, her voice more exasperated than angry as she carefully scooted over on the mattress, pulling his hand along with her as she did so.

The hunter hesitated a moment longer, his blue eyes jumping towards the cell door before he was moving to lay on the mattress.

"Damn bossy woman." He grumbled as he settled down and Amity couldn't help but laugh lightly at that.

"Always."

* * *

The next morning came quicker than the redhead ever would have liked. She figured after basically sleeping for nearly a week straight, she would be more than well rested but it seemed that her body had different ideas on how that should work out.

She woke to an empty bed, which had a small frown on her face as she slowly moved to stand up and begin to get ready. Amity noted the single change of clothes that laid on the chair Daryl had occupied the evening before along with her machete, gun, and a hunting knife that was not her own- her boots resting under the chair. She figured that the rest of her things must have been packed away in the car they were taking out.

"Need any help?" Maggie's voice chirped from the door, the woman peeking her head in without any warning which had Amity looking at her with indignation.

"Oh calm down, I knew Daryl wasn't in here because he's been runnin' all around this mornin'." Maggie explained, stepping fully into the space and moving to help Amity who was now struggling to tug her sweatpants down her legs since she couldn't bend.

"Thanks." Amity said once she had finally stepped into a pair of jeans, ignoring the way the tightness of them made her stomach wound ache slightly.

"No problem!" Maggie replied with a smile, gesturing towards the exit once Amity had put on the clean shirt and jacket before donning her weapons and boots.

"Come on, breakfast is out." The other woman informed her and they walked down to the common area arm in arm, the main reason being that Amity was struggling a bit with the stairs, and walking in general, though she was too stubborn to admit as much.

After quick breakfast with Beth and Carol since they were the only people still inside the cellblock, Amity followed Maggie's lead and headed out into the concrete yard where the cars were parked and everyone was gathering.

She noticed all sets of eyes turning towards them as they came out, concern in most of the gazes as they noticed how much she had to lean on Maggie.

"There ya are, sugar! Thought you'd never get that sweet ass out in the sunshine again." Merle's voice came from around one of the cars and Amity couldn't help but smile at his exuberance in face of everyone else's solemn expressions.

"Can't lay around forever I guess." Amity chirped back as she limped over, Maggie helping her settle down on the hood of one of the cars before she went towards Glenn.

"Damn freeloader." Glenn teased the injured woman as he draped an arm over Maggie's shoulders and Amity rolled her eyes.

Carol settled down on the hood next to her for a moment, the older woman taking her hand and giving it a small squeeze while they exchanged a smile and it only took another moment or so before Michael pulled his head out from under the hood of the car he was working on and crossed over to his sister.

"You got grease on your face." Amity informed him just as he was about to hug her.

"I'm recallin' my hug." Michael told her flatly and Amity rolled her eyes at him.

"You're mighty sensitive these days, Mikey." She teased, laughing lightly when the older Walker gently wrapped an arm around her head and mussed her hair under his giant knuckles.

"Ain't gonna get shit done if y'all just goof off all mornin'." Daryl said from where he was kneeling by his bike, rising to his feet so that Amity could see him for the first time that morning.

Her eyes raked over his form, taking in the leather jacket that he donned and appreciating how it complimented the badass image he worked to maintain. Though she knew the man was shy, self-conscious, and even a bit of a goofball- there was no doubt that he was also a badass through and through. He was a delicate balance of a man and Amity couldn't help but appreciate that about him every time such a thing crossed her mind.

Catching his eyes, Amity smiled boldly when she realized he had caught her looking him over and the smile just grew when he let out a small scoff at her actions.

"Get movin'." He said, punctuating his earlier words and making Carol hop off the hood, her hand in Michael's as he assisted her, and Amity struggled to move as well.

"Not you." Daryl added and a hand rested on her shoulder to keep her in place, making her nearly jump out of her skin before she realized it was Merle.

"Don't need ya poppin' a stitch and bleedin' all over the pretty concrete, Red." The older man told her and Amity fought to resist an eye roll, catching her brother glaring at the older man's hand on her.

She was distracted from the Dixon brothers' (and her own's) coddling by Carl suddenly pushing past his father, the quick jerky action catching her attention and making her follow the movement of the boy with interest as he headed towards the car that they would be taking and away from Rick. She exchanged a glance with Daryl and Michael, Merle seemingly unbothered by the moment, and then Beth was coming out of the prison along with Carol.

"Let's get this show on the road." Amity announced, getting a few nods of agreement.

"See you on the flip side, Bug." Michael told her, leaning down to press a solid kiss to her forehead before pulling back with a smile. The man was obviously more than pleased about Amity being sent out into the woods away from the prison that was about to be turned into a war zone.

"Watch your ass, Mike." She advised, returning his smile with a tight one of her own before he was moving away from her and to Carol's side.

Rick and Michonne had headed into the prison at her words so Daryl reached to hook an arm under Amity's armpits, ignoring her protests as he lifted her to the ground and held her up while she limped to the car.

"Y'all are gonna have to help her get out and in when y'all are stoppin'." Daryl told Beth, the blonde nodding and making her ponytail bounce as she immediately agreed to the gruff hunter's directions.

"I don't need-" Amity began but was cut off by Daryl grumbling at her to shut her mouth.

The passenger door was pulled open by Beth and Daryl gently sat Amity down inside of the vehicle, her small noises of pain nearly having him freezing in place but he knew that prolonging it would just make it worse. He helped her get settled, not bothering with a seatbelt around her as it would just irritate her wound and knelt down next to the car, Beth suddenly making herself scarce.

"Y'all are gonna sit tight until we come and get ya." Daryl told her and for once, Amity just nodded in response.

"Stay put and don't play hero. Protect our own and if we don't get them out by sundown, or if you don't see us in the yard, get in the car and stay there. Leave at first light tomorrow and drive back to the storage units." He directed and Amity nodded once more, her thumb tapping a steady rhythm on her leg betraying her nerves.

"You stay safe and stay alive." Amity told him sternly, looking down at him from where she was sat and waited until he nodded.

"Promise me." She demanded.

"I promise. Ain't nothin' gonna happen that ain't supposed to." He told her, trying to have a bit of confidence in that fact though his stomach was aching at the thought of her being out of his sight with the Governor so close.

"It better not." She replied simply and his brow quirked up, a clear question of 'or what?'

"I'll kick your ass." She added with a smirk before quickly leaning down, ignoring the sharp pain that came with doing so and pressed her lips to his.

Nothing but content happiness could describe what she felt when the man returned the kiss, his lips moving with hers as he pressed harder against her mouth to say everything that was running through his mind but he didn't have the words for.

Once they finally broke away from one another, the sound of Rick and Michonne's voices returning to the concrete yard, Amity gave the man a fond smile and he reached out to gently tug on a strand of loose ginger hair.

"See you soon." She told him and he nodded, pushing himself to his feet and walking away from her without a glance back.

He couldn't let himself look back.

Shortly after Daryl walked away, Amity was joined in the car by Hershel, Carl, Judith in her carseat, and Beth who was driving them since neither Hershel nor Amity was in any state to do so.

"Greene, if you wreck this car I might have to hurt you." Amity told the blonde who looked over at her with a sly smile as she turned the key in the ignition.

"You could try." She quipped back, making the redhead's brows shoot towards her hairline before a loud laugh escaped her followed by sharp pain.

"Shit- _ow_ , note to self that funny is bad." Amity muttered as the youngest Greene navigated the car towards where they had decided to stow it away.

"You know, Beth... once I get better I could teach you some self defense... if you're interested." Amity offered and clutched at the grip handle above the door as the blonde looked over to her, her blue eyes wide.

"Beth! Watch the damn road!" Amity yelled at her and the teen whipped her head back around to look at the road just as Hershel half-heartedly scolded Amity for her language.

"Do you mean that?" Beth asked after a moment of silence passed, her tone making it seem as if she thought Amity might have been making fun of her.

"Completely." Amity confirmed. "You're small, Beth- innocent looking- but that gives you an edge. People don't expect you to be a fighter, but you are and I will do my best to make you a damn good one." She promised before looking over her shoulder at Hershel in the backseat. "That is if you are okay with it, Doc?"

Hershel looked at Amity for a moment before watching his youngest daughter in the rearview as she pulled the car to a stop on the hill they were supposed to stop on.

"As a matter of fact, I think that's a great idea." The older man said, giving a small nod when Beth looked at him with a bright smile. "She's got to learn to stand on her own eventually."

"What about me?" Carl asked suddenly, cutting through the conversation and Amity looked at him for a long moment.

"We'll talk to your dad about it, Hoss, but I don't teach those that are disrespectful to their elders." She told him, giving him a pointed look that he challenged with a glare of his own for only a brief moment before dropping his eyes, cheeks tinged lightly pink as he nodded in understanding.

"Then that's that. Let's get this car camouflaged, shall we?" She suggested, pushing open her door with a smile at her companions.

* * *

Alarms wailed in the distance and Amity kept a firm grip on the small handgun she held as she peered at the prison through the trees. Her teeth worried her bottom lip and she readjusted how she was sat on the hood of the car. Hershel had tried to convince her to stay put in the vehicle in case they needed to make a quick get away but she wouldn't be convinced. She would drive herself crazy with not knowing what was going on.

It was only a couple of minutes before the gunfire began and she debated on trying to stand, hating having to sit still when she was so full of nerves.

"Don't," was all Hershel said over his shoulder as he crouched along with Carl and Beth so they could better see what was going on while Judith slept peacefully in the backseat.

Amity sighed to herself and decided that she would at least keep her eyes on the forest around them as the Woodbury citizens made their way out to their vehicles and hopefully out of the prison for good.

She scanned the trees, her body on high alert as the other three joined her and the large trucks the Governor had brought into the yard began to roar out.

"We'll be able to go back down soon." Amity told them, reaching out for Beth who immediately moved to help her lower herself down off of the hood, Carl moving to help as well until the sound of crunching leaves in the nearby trees had Hershel and Beth moving to hide, Amity being dragged along until she let go of Beth and pushed her down behind the car.

The redhead braced one hand on the hood of the vehicle next to her, using it to steady herself as she raised her gun with Carl at her side doing the same.

"Whoa there, bucko." Amity called out once a teenager entered the clearing, looking at them with wide eyes.

"Don't shoot." The boy pleaded, glancing nervously between her and Carl as Hershel and Beth peeked over the car, the older man standing fully and raising his gun as well.

"Drop the weapon, son." Hershel directed and the teen nodded his head quickly.

"Sure." He said, moving to hold the rifle out towards Amity and Carl. "Here, take it."

"Put it down." Amity restated, knowing that she couldn't easily move to take it, not that she would reveal that weakness to a stranger, and she didn't exactly want Carl any closer to the guy.

"Take it." The boy insisted, taking a step forward and shaking the rifle a bit at them as if to insist.

A silenced shot sounded, Amity's eyes widening a bit as she watched the teen drop to the ground and her mind raced to catch up with what had just happened. She looked at the forest surrounding them, first assuming that someone else had sniped the kid until she realized that it was Carl who had fired.

Carl had just shot a teenager in cold-blood.

She looked over at the young boy who stared at the body on the forest floor for a moment before he turned, gesturing to the car to tell them to get moving.

Amity looked back at Hershel who met her gaze with guilt, sadness, and regret laying behind his eyes.

Beth's slender arm hooked under Amity's armpits and the woman leaned against the younger girl, glad for her small build for once as it meant Beth could actually help her out rather easily and allowed herself to be put in the car.

"Let's go." She told the blonde once she had crossed around and climbed into the driver's seat.

* * *

The small group that hid out in the woods made their way from the car and in through one of the back entrances to their prison block, taking the stairs from one of the side yards up onto the catwalk that lead them into a cleared corridor and then to the cellblock. By the time they were pushing through the barred door, Amity was fighting against tears from the pain of walking.

"I got her, I got her." Michael called out to Beth once he spotted the blonde girl struggling a bit under the weight of his little sister and noticed the pained look on Amity's face.

The man gently and slowly picked Amity up in his arms, one hooked under her knees and one behind her back while Beth moved from them to take Judith from Carl's hold.

"Easy there, Bug. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. I know you've gotta be hurtin'." Michael said gently, walking towards where their cells were.

Daryl and Merle entered through the front gate of the common area just as he was crossing the room and Michael caught sight of the panic behind the younger Dixon's gaze when he noticed that Amity was being carried.

"She's just hurtin', man." Michael reassured him, watching as he nearly physically deflated with relief and continued his path over to him, Merle trailing along behind.

"Ya think that ya could've fired that machine gun now?" Daryl asked the woman, settling next to Michael and resisting the urge to reach out and brush some of her auburn hair from her face.

"Fuck you, Dixon." Amity said through gritted teeth, her breathing a bit labored though it was obvious she was taking her brother's advice and fighting to keep it even.

"Let's get her into her cell. I'll recheck her wound and bandage it while y'all are gone." Hershel told the men, coming up next to them with a certain heaviness behind his expression that Amity could tell wasn't due to her condition.

"Gone?" Amity questioned harshly.

"We're chasin' down them Woodbury folks- makin' sure they're gone for good." Michael explained and Amity opened her mouth to say something before seeming to think better of it and pressing her lips together tightly.

She didn't want them to go. If she was honest with herself, she was afraid that if they went they wouldn't come back, just like how they barely did last time and it had taken Daryl even longer than the others to do so. The issue, and the reason she wasn't fighting them on it, was that she understood why they were going. They couldn't keep living in fear and Amity wanted the Governor dead more than anything.

"I'd suggest you staying behind too, Merle. We'll need an extra set of eyes and you shouldn't be straining yourself much more." Hershel added, looking to Merle specifically then before sparing Daryl a glance.

Merle opened his mouth to argue but Amity cut him off, her voice tight.

"You heard the doctor, Dixon. Too damn bad for you." She snapped and for once, Merle just looked at the woman and said nothing for a long moment before nodding.

"Got nothin' better to do, I guess." Merle excused. "Can't leave y'all bunch of pussies unprotected."

Daryl and Michael exchanged a look at that, but then they continued into the cellblock and to Amity's new temporary cell.

It was hours later before Beth came rushing into the space, the group leaving to follow Woodbury already having done so which left Amity deciding to take a nap. The redhead woke up as soon as the footsteps she had heard crossed the threshold into what Amity temporarily considered her space and immediately her hand went for her weapon.

"Whoa! Baby on board!" Beth told the woman, trying to calm her down as she clutched Judith to her chest.

Amity looked at the pair before laying fully back down on the bed, shaking her head at herself.

"Sorry, it's just reflexive now." She apologized before the sound of voices, many voices, had her eyes widening and her moving to get up but Beth gestured at her to stay laying down.

"They're back- Rick, Daryl, Michonne. They came back... but they brought a lot more people." Beth explained and Amity narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asked and Beth readjusted Judith in her arms.

"They brought back the people left behind at Woodbury."

* * *

 **Hey, guys!**

 **Sorry this chapter took a bit longer and is a bit shorter! I've been really busy with university things, but that's of no concern to y'all because here's another chapter!**

 **I want to say a big thanks to ClanCusack for their kind review that actually motivated me to push forward and write this chapter finally!**

 **As for the reason why it is so short- I left it there because I wanted to ask y'all a question!**

 **Are you guys wanting to get a look into life at the prison while they are really building up the community and settling in with the Woodbury people? There would be small scenes about things like building Daryl and Amity's relationship more, a look at Rick and Amity's friendship, or her and Maggie or Carol's. There would also be potential scenes of her training Beth or interacting and finding characters like Zach and Doctor S!**

 **Or do y'all want me to skip straight to where Season 4 picks up?**

 **Let me know what y'all think!**

 **xx**


	22. Chapter 22

Pale fingers grasped at chain link as Amity looked out into the woods surrounding the prison in which her family had made their home. She was clutching on to one of the few stretches of fencing that didn't have walkers flapping their ugly jaws while trying to reach the large group that had now settled out of their reach.

The build-up was happening faster than the redhead liked and was getting scarier by the day, but there was nothing to be done. The prison held too many people now and with children running around and with the livestock that Daryl and Merle had found only a few weeks ago- well, silence wasn't really an option anymore.

"Amity!" A small voice called out from behind her and the woman turned to see two small blondes running down the hill towards her, a third blonde, Beth, following behind the pair a bit more slowly.

"Amity, Dr. S needs you!" The oldest of the two girls, Lizzie, informed her.

"Lizzie, _I_ was gonna tell her." The younger girl, Mika, whined, looking at her older sister with a small pout that Lizzie made disappear by hooking a skinny arm around her shoulders.

Lizzie and Mika had joined the group at the prison a few weeks prior after being found along with their father, Ryan, by Glenn and Maggie when the couple was out on a run. The two girls were a bit of brightness in the prison that Amity enjoyed- they often annoyed Carl, being that they had held onto their childlike qualities better than he had, but Amity liked having them around and their father was a nice addition to their fence clearing teams.

"Hey, Beth." Amity greeted her friend once she had made it to them as well, offering the young woman a smile which she returned.

"Hey, Am. They tell you the doctor is looking for you?" Beth asked with a brow quirked in a way that had Amity's narrowing her blue eyes at her.

"They did..." Amity confirmed, trailing off with a bit of questioning.

"Good, good." Beth said vaguely, apparently something more on her mind about the situation but she gestured for the two girls to follow her.

"Come on, guys. We need to make it back inside in time for Carol's lessons." Beth informed the two, tactfully cutting off any questions that Amity had about her behavior.

"Daryl should be back from hunting soon, right?" Beth asked Amity over her shoulder as she began to walk, the redhead having paused a moment before jogging to catch up with the blonde triad.

Glancing up at the sky, Amity noted the position of the sun before nodding.

"Yeah, he should be. Must be after something good if he's been out there this long." She explained and Beth hummed to herself.

"Good, good." She said again and Amity huffed in response.

"Beth, stop being a weirdo." She demanded and the blonde looked over at her with amusement and something she couldn't place.

"I've got no idea what you're talking about, Walker." Beth told her.

"You little-" Amity began but was cut off by Carol appearing in one of the doorways just ahead.

"There you two are! Beth, we were just about to get started." The woman told them, scolding the teenager lightly but Beth just gave her a winning smile.

"Sorry, Carol. Dr. S sent us out to get Amity for him." Beth explained, looking at Carol expectantly and the woman turned her eyes on the redhead then.

"Of course he did." Carol said simply, shaking her head and Amity looked at her with confusion.

What exactly was _that_ supposed to mean?

"Well-" Amity said after a beat of weird silence. "I best get going then..."

Ducking past the small group, the redhead actively pushed the weird behavior of her friends out of her head as she wandered into the rather packed cell block.

"Hey, Am!" A familiar voice called out and Amity turned to wave at Glenn who was heading into the yard with a small group of people following along behind him.

"Hey, Glennie!" She called back with a smile before continuing on, greeting others who had come from Woodbury or joined them recently as she went.

It only took her a few minutes to reach the infirmary that had finally been cleared and secured for use of everyone in the prison, and everyone was way higher of a number than it had been when they arrived at the prison.

When Amity had first hobbled outside with the help of Beth and saw the mass of people climbing off a bus, most of which were not fighters per say, she had not been thrilled with the idea of taking them all in. Her moral side was completely on board with the plan and she knew that the people needed their help, but her side that specialized in self-preservation... well, it was easy to say that it wasn't pleased.

Then came with revelation that Andrea was not amongst those joining them from Woodbury. After Amity had stood watching each and every person climb off of the large bus that had been driven into the prison yard, Rick had taken a moment to reveal what had happened to her blonde friend, the one that Amity had been so upset with the last time she saw her, and it was Rick that had pressed Amity against his chest as she fought against the tears that welled up involuntarily.

It had only taken the woman a couple of days to warm up to the Woodbury people nonetheless. Amity was an open book and a compassionate one at that. After only a few of conversations with a pair of the elderly gentlemen, Max and Roswell, and a few times that one of the women, Cathleen, helped her up and down the stairs when she noticed her struggling- Amity had warmed up fast.

It took Daryl a bit longer.

The man wasn't hateful towards anyone and he was definitely less cold than he had been in a long time, but having so many people around and in his space all of a sudden obviously unsettled him. He began spending more and more time out in the woods, a habit that Amity understood but she addressed nonetheless once she realized _she_ hadn't even spoken to him after three days straight.

Now, Daryl was a key member of the prison, just like he had been in their family. The people loved him and appreciated him for his skillful hunting. He was admired as a provider and his brother as a protector. Amity was proud of both of the Dixons, even when they would snap at someone pushing them a bit too far.

"You rang?" Amity asked as she entered the infirmary, a smile on her lips as she spotted her new friend, Caleb Subramanian- otherwise known to the rest of the prison as Dr. S.

"Not exactly." Caleb quipped back, turning to her with a smile that matched her own as he waved her over.

On the table in front of him sat a large pile of books ranging from medical encyclopedias to psychological journals. One journal in particular was flipped open and Amity noted the familiar title at the top of one of the pages.

Her dissertation.

"Oh..." Amity said quietly, pulling a small laugh from her friend.

"Yeah, _oh_." He agreed, teasing her lightly. "You never told me you were published."

"I didn't really think it mattered now, you know? It means nothing in this kind of world." Amity reasoned but Caleb shook his head.

"This is impressive research all the same, Am. You studied microneuronal theory but focused on its clinical applications." He said, reminding her of her own work and she shrugged lightly.

"I wanted to help people." She explained and he nodded, reaching to gently touch her elbow.

"I think you still do." He told her, but she wasn't so sure. "That's why I went into the field I did as well. There was nothing I treasured more than helping people where I could- leaving an impact bigger than myself on the world." He continued, his hand lingering against her for a moment longer before he let it drop to his side.

"I have a proposition for you." Caleb said and Amity raised a brow at him.

"Alright, you have my attention. Shoot." Amity urged and he nodded once, moving to lean against the table on his elbows and Amity did the same, both of them hovering over the journal that she had been published in and looking at one another, heads close as she anticipated his offer.

"I want to study this thing." He said finally.

"What thing?" Amity replied, the words coming out as almost a hiss as she suspected his train of thought.

"You know what thing, Amity. I want to study this disease- I want to learn how it works." Caleb explained, but Amity was already shaking her head.

"Caleb, we told you about the CDC. We told everyone about what happened there- there's no hope." She said, voice tired but Caleb was having none of her defeat.

"That's bullshit, Amity and you know it!" He snapped, pushing away from the table then as he paced the room. Amity was distinctly thankful that he didn't have any patients lingering around the space for this conversation.

"Hershel told me that you had research with you before you guys were chased off of his farm. Brains scans, observations, and whatever notes you took." Caleb informed.

"The key word there is had. I _had_ research, but it all went down with the farm." Amity reminded him.

"Then let's go back!" Caleb replied and Amity looked at the man like he had just suggested they both go and make out with a walker.

"Are you hearing yourself?" Amity asked him sharply. "Caleb, the last time I was there I barely made it out alive. I wouldn't have if Daryl hadn't shown up."

The man sighed a bit at her protests, shaking his head. "The herd most likely cleared out since then. You and I could do it. It's not even that far! We take one of the cars and it should only be a three day trip- tops."

"We don't even know if my work survived... or if it's even still there." Amity said, her argument weaker than it had been though her hands were shaking lightly at just the thought of returning to the farm.

"But it could be. Amity-" Caleb crossed the room to her, leaning down so they were seeing eye to eye. "You know this is important. You know that this is worth researching. We could... we could make that impact on the world. We could be the people that figure this thing out and get everyone back! We could stop the death from the disease."

His words struck a chord in the woman. He knew just what part of her personality to appeal to in order for her to consider the task that he had offered out.

With a sigh, a slender hand rose to the woman's slightly sun-kissed face as her fingers clasped the bridge of her nose that was splattered with freckles.

"I'll think about it." She told him finally and a smile broke out across his lips.

"That's all I ask."

* * *

It was a couple of hours later before Amity felt a hand rest on the top of her head and Merle sat down next to her at the table she was occupying. Immediately, the older couple that Amity had been sitting with excused themselves and the woman nearly sighed.

"You scare off everyone." Amity informed the man who was now her only company, pulling a laugh from him at her words.

"Not my fault they're all a buncha pussies." He insisted, shrugging as he spooned a mouthful of stew into his mouth.

"Not their fault you're smelly and unapproachable." Amity quipped back, getting a small shove from the man for her lip which had her laughing brightly. It always amused her when everyone's eyes turned her way as they noticed she seemed at peace and happy with the eldest of the Dixons. She knew it confused most people in the prison, but she couldn't be bothered to be too concerned over it. The masses respected Merle even as they feared him and since that was good enough for Merle, it was good enough for her.

"You seen my baby brother around?" Merle asked her and Amity shook her head in response.

"The fuck not? I thought you and him were back to bein' attached at the hip." He said, referring to the fact that after Amity pointed out that Daryl had been ignoring her and that wasn't something she was going to deal with, the two had quickly became partners in crime once more.

She was one of the few people that he let even kind of close to him, the him that wasn't a grouchy mask put on for others that is.

"He went out hunting today and I cleared the fence and helped out Caleb in the infirmary. We both just had shit to get done." Amity reasoned with a small shrug.

"Right- _Caleb_. Doctor who-gives-a-damn from Savannah. You and him are gettin' friendly." Merle noted and Amity rolled her eyes at the man.

"Well, we are friends, Merle. That tends to be how that goes." She snarked.

"What do the two of ya even talk about? Yer nothing alike. He's useless as they come and you're not totally incapable." He said, not willing to offer out kind words to the woman so easily.

"Wow, Dixon, that just might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me." Amity teased him, satisfied when he rolled his eyes at her. "But he's not useless. He survived just like we did and was even on his own when we found him."

"Means shit." Merle grumbled.

"But you know, we just sit around and talk about our degrees. We throw big medical terms at one another until the other messes up. Doctor shit." Amity said, cheeky as ever and Merle tossed his spoon down roughly into his bowl, obviously done with his meal.

"Your lip is gonna get that fine ass of yours in trouble one day and I ain't gonna be the one to save it." Merle informed her.

"I'm not asking you to." Amity told him seriously but the eldest Dixon just shook his head at her before blue eyes flickered to the space just over her shoulder.

"Hey there, baby brother. We was just lookin' for you." Merle announced loudly, drawing a bit of attention to the trio and Daryl didn't balk under it. He was truly changing as time went on and his newfound confidence had a smile forming on Amity's lips.

"Don't look like it." Daryl replied, settling down next to Amity as he sat his crossbow on the table in front of him.

"It's because Merle's a liar. We weren't looking, but we were talking about you though." Amity informed him with a smile, scooting closer so that their shoulders barely brushed. Confident or not, neither of the two were exactly comfortable with outright public displays of affection.

"Figures." Daryl answered with a smirk, only turning from his brother and girlfriend when Carol brought him over a bowl of food, resting a hand briefly on the top of the man's head.

"Thank you for the squirrel and that doe, Daryl." Carol told him and Merle grumbled what may have been a compliment to the hunter upon hearing about his haul.

As Daryl grunted out a reply, Amity couldn't help but snort as his lack of conversation when there was food in front of him and met Carol's eyes over his head as the man dug in.

"How'd your talk with Dr. S go?" Carol asked her, causing the Dixons on either side of her to pin her under blue-eyed gazes.

"It was fine. He just wanted to talk about some things he found in some of the journals that were brought back from the last run." Amity excused, the half-lie falling easily from her lips though she noticed Daryl's gaze searching her face as she spoke before his eyes narrowed a bit.

"That's good. Mika is convinced that you and him are _best_ friends." Carol said, her words oddly tactful and it had Amity confused once more. It felt like a repeat of the weird conversation she had that morning with her and Beth.

"Don't let Maggie hear her say that. Last thing I need is a jealous Greene on my hands." Amity said, joking as an attempt to lighten the situation Carol had created around them.

"Lizzie has a different theory." Carol added, her words holding nothing but simplicity in her statement though her eyes were openly curious and scrutinizing.

"Is that so?" Amity asked, not sure what else she should say and Carol just nodded, lightly touching Daryl's shoulder before she was bidding them all a good meal and wandering back towards the kitchen.

"Well that was weird." Amity stated simply and Merle let out a grunt of agreement that Daryl didn't echo, instead choosing to just look at Amity for a moment.

"You good, Dixon? Need me to get the camera that Glenn found?" Amity asked him, teasing the man and getting an eyeroll in response which had her smiling.

"Fuck off, Cherry."

* * *

"Did you think about what I said?"

Amity sighed as she walked out of the prison, her hand resting on the machete at her belt while her bow sat slung over one of her shoulders.

"It's only been two days, Caleb." Amity reminded him and the man let out a sound of annoyance.

"That's plenty of time to think, Am. It's not like I'm asking you to run headlong into a herd of zombies." He said, sounding exasperated.

"You might as well be! It's something that is very likely to happen on this little run of yours!" Amity told him, voice raising a bit and she noticed the small group around the car they were taking out on a run looking their way.

She briefly met Daryl's Georgia blues, the man looking between her and the doctor with obvious curiosity and what might have been a hint of concern at her tone of voice.

Pulling the doctor to a stop next to her, Amity leaned close to keep the conversation between the two of them.

"I need to think about it, Caleb and you need to be patient. This isn't as easy as just going out on a run. The council would have to approve it and I'd have to convince not one, but _two_ Dixons and Michael that this is a good idea when I'm not so sure it is myself." She said, words rushed as she noticed her brother heading their direction, the way she snapped earlier and her expression as she talked to Caleb being enough to catch his attention.

"Everythin' good here?" Michael asked as he settled in next to them and while Amity didn't look over at him, instead choosing to pin Caleb under a hard look, the doctor did.

"It's fine." Caleb insisted, but Michael said nothing until Amity turned to him finally.

"We're good, Mikey." She told the older man, smiling up at him before gently pushing on his arm.

"Let's get going, yeah?" She insisted, moving towards the car with her brother and leaving the pushy doctor in their wake.

"Just think about it, Amity!" Caleb called after her and the redhead nearly sighed.

Way to set her up for an interrogation, Doctor Dumbass.

Instead of responding, Amity tossed a dismissive wave over her shoulder before she reached the car and looked between Daryl and Beth who were coming along on the run as well.

"Ready to go?" She asked them.

"Are _you_?" Beth replied, looking pointedly over her shoulder to where Caleb was still hovering.

"Hell yeah." Amity replied simply, gesturing for the younger blonde to get in the car while she crossed to the passenger seat, smirking smugly at Michael as she went since he'd have to climb in the back.

The car pulled out of the prison thanks to Daryl and Amity adjusted to lay back in her seat, blue eyes trained on the road ahead of them.

"We're hitting the consignment shop, CVS, and...?" Beth asked, her voice sounding from the backseat.

It wasn't the first run that Beth was accompanying them on, the girl only being allowed to go if Amity herself was going since she had been the one training her to hold her own. Ever since they ran Woodbury out of their home, and once Amity had healed up, the redhead had been true to her offer to Beth in the car that day. It took some convincing of Maggie, but soon enough Amity began to make sure the teenager could hold her own.

It started with basic hand-to-hand self-defense, but soon enough they had moved onto knives and killing walkers, then to melee weapons like machetes and axes, and finally Amity began to teach the girl a bit about handling a bow since she had already gotten gun training back on the farm.

Beth was turning out to be a quick learner and the two had gotten closer ever since the training began. Beth just felt like a younger sister at that point, which was suiting because Maggie was more than certainly Amity's long lost sister as well. The Greene girls meant the world to Amity, her entire family did, and Amity would lay down anything and everything to protect them.

"A family-owned supermarket. It's called Kenny's or somethin' like that." Daryl responded in his gruff voice that had Amity's heart leaping in her chest from just the sound alone.

"Okay, cool." Beth replied with a small smile, obviously pleased just to be out of the prison.

"Yeah, totally _cool_." Amity added, mocking the younger girl with a teasing smile tossed into the backseat.

"You're annoying." Beth informed her and Amity laughed in response, the noise fading off when she felt a hand brush against one of her own and immediately threaded her fingers through Daryl's, the man's arm stretched over the center console and she couldn't help but smile softly at the action.

The car fell into silence for a few minutes, each of its occupants in their own thoughts while Amity was simply content with her hand held in Daryl's as he drove.

"What did Dr. S want you to be thinkin' about?" Daryl asked suddenly and the redhead suddenly wished that they had someone from Woodbury along with them for the run just so that the conversation would have been put off.

While seemingly comfortable with everyone from their original group, especially Beth and Michael, most of her family and Daryl specifically, still held off from connecting too closely with those that had joined them from Woodbury and otherwise. It wasn't that they meant to exactly, it was just hard to trust anyone anymore.

She looked over at Daryl for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as she considered how to answer him without making the situation sound as bad as it originally did to her.

"He found one of my old publications about brain stuff and is trying to get me to start researching the disease again." Amity said, admitting a part of their conversation to him.

She noted that the two in the backseat were as quiet as mice as they listened in on what she was saying.

Daryl himself was quiet for a moment or two before he glanced her way.

"Are ya not wantin' to do it anymore?" He asked, referring to the way she had been so dedicated to figuring out what she could about it all back on the farm. It was clear enough with her small breakdown upon realizing everything had been left behind that the research was important to her.

Shrugging her shoulders, Amity looked out the window for a moment before answering.

"There's a lot of issues with it all now. Before... at least I had something to go off of, but now I've lost everything from the CDC so we have no where to really start." She explained and the hunter nodded slowly, apparently mulling over her words.

"You can't just remember what all you had written down?" Michael asked from the backseat and Amity sighed.

"Not as exact as I need to, plus I wasn't done looking over those brain scans. I know those would hold the key to this thing." Amity told him, sounding frustrated with herself once more over leaving everything behind.

The hand in hers gave her fingers a small squeeze and Amity returned it while sucking in a deep breath through her nose, a bit of the tension she was holding in her chest relaxing.

"He wants you to go back." Beth stated suddenly and Amity tensed right back up as Daryl cut his eyes sharply over to her and she heard Michael shift forward in his seat.

"He wants us _both_ to go back." Amity admitted, confirming the perceptive blonde's assumptions though it wasn't part of the conversation with the doctor that she had wanted to breach.

"And here we all just thought he was trying to sleep with you." Michael said, not sounding relieved in the slightest though his words had Amity spluttering.

"Y'all _what_?" She asked, voice an octave higher than normal as she looked between everyone in the vehicle.

"No." Daryl said, ignoring the direction the conversation had taken and instead focusing on the fact that the random doctor he had found with Merle and Amity herself out in the woods was trying to drag his girl off to a farm that had been overrun and on fire the last time they saw it.

"Daryl-" Amity began but the hunter cut her off by shaking his head.

"No, Amity." He said simply and the woman fell silent, tension in the car raising as everyone in the vehicle knew how much the woman hated being told what she could and could not do.

"We'll talk about this later." Amity said, her voice carefully controlled as a flare of anger had irrationally rose in her chest at his dismissive words.

"It'll still be a no."

"Dixon, do yourself a favor and _shut it_." Amity suggested shortly.

It was only a few high-tension moments later before the group was pulling into the small stretch of town that they had marked off for the run that day, Daryl and Glenn having scouted it out a few days before.

"CVS first. We're not splittin' up this run. No sense in it." Daryl directed once the four of them had climbed out of the car, loaded on their weapons, and met just in front of the hood.

"Especially when we have only four of us, only three places to hit, and plenty of time." Amity added as explanation, knowing where Daryl's train of thought was coming from and also knowing that he wouldn't bother to explain it to anyone else.

"Sounds good to me." Beth chirped, resting a hand on her hip just above where an array of knives hung from her belt. The sight of the willowy blonde armed to the teeth had Amity smiling proudly over at her.

"Let's get goin'." Michael insisted and the other three nodded, heading towards the nearby store with a large familiar red sign that looked so out of place in this new world.

"CVS always sold the best hairbrushes." Amity said with a wistful sigh, catching the weird look that Daryl sent her and stuck her tongue out at the man as they settled by the sliding doors they would have to pry open.

"Don't judge me- it's just fact." She insisted before falling silent as her brother pulled out the crowbar that he had wedged under his belt and fixed it in the crack of the door.

Automatically, Amity readied her bow as Daryl raised his crossbow and Beth gripped a knife that was more like a short sword in her right hand.

"Go for it." Amity directed Michael and without hesitation the man put his strength behind the iron bar, cord-like muscles in his arms bulging as his broad chest flexed and finally, with a haunting screech, the doors of the store edged apart enough that Michael could grab one edge while Daryl grabbed the other and both men wrenched them apart.

Once the opening was wide enough for even Michael to slip easily in and out of, the men took a big step back and everyone stood silent as they waited for anything that could have been in the store to stumble out.

After a good five minutes or so of dead silence, Amity moved forward and for once, neither Michael nor Daryl grabbed her to keep her back.

Trust was an odd thing.

The drugstore was silent, almost eerily so, but in a world without electricity the silence was something that you just got used to.

The redhead crept down the large center aisle after looking behind the long counter to make sure there was nothing trapped behind it and heard the other three just at her back.

"It looks clear." Amity whispered, pausing to glance back that the others she could mostly see in the dimness thanks to the light streaming in from the large windows near the ceiling of the store.

"Michael, take the front left and Beth, front right. Stay within eyesight of Michael the best you can, Greene. I'll take the back half of the store. Amity, takes the pharmacy." Daryl directed and once he got confirming nods, he headed off in the direction he had assigned himself.

"Grab me a new hairbrush, Bethy." Amity directed the blonde after seeing that hair products were in her domain.

With a wink at the younger girl, the redhead hurried to follow Daryl the rest of the way through the back of the store and easily hopped up and over the pharmacy counter.

The store looked untouched, but it seemed that the staff had been in more than a hurry to get out of the place which was good news for them.

Amity navigated the pharmacy fairly easily as she was always the one assigned to doing so. Despite her lack of a medical doctorate, it was decided that she knew the most 'doctor mumbo-jumbo.' With that being decided, she did a few quick studies with Caleb and Hershel so she'd be that much more prepared and now finding the medicine they needed was simple.

The duffel bag hanging over her shoulder continued to grow heavier as Amity cleared out the shelves of medicine, knowing Daryl was doing the same with the more generic stuff in the back of the store only a few yards away from her as she could hear the pills shaking in the bottles.

"Do you think grabbing Viagra would be inappropriate?" Amity called out through the metal fence surrounding the higher end medications.

She heard Daryl's gruff chuckle and the sound of it had her smile brightening so she threw a bottle into the bag just for shits and giggles.

She had nearly worked her way to the drive-thru pharmacy window at that point, her blue eyes trained on the shelf as she quickly read over the labels in front of her. She barely left anything if it could fit in her bag, there being no reason to leave the precious resource that was medication behind.

Tossing a few more bottles into the bag, Amity glanced out the pharmacy window and immediately froze at what she saw there.

A black Dodge charger had pulled up outside and parked along the curb circling the parking lot of the store. The car was left facing the exit, a smart move by the young man, perhaps just barely out of his teens, that had climbed out of the vehicle.

Amity ducked down below the window, crawling fast along the floor towards the main part of the store and once she reached the counter of the pharmacy, she let out a whistle that she knew would tell the others all that they needed to know. That they weren't alone and that there was only one.

The whistle system was something that the group had picked up from the Dixon brothers after a few of them heard them whistle to one another in some sort of code and got curious. It was low-key and very efficient.

Almost immediately after her whistle sounded, Daryl appeared at the counter slunk low with his crossbow held aloft as blue eyes searched the pharmacy for Amity.

The woman peeked up above the counter so that he could see her and she watched as relief flooded his gaze.

"It's a young guy, nice ass car. Didn't see anyone else with him." Amity informed him, passing the hunter her filled bag so that she could carefully climb over the counter.

The couple moved to the right side of the store, assuming that Michael would have bolted to Beth's side at Amity's warning. They crept along the wall, not wanting to move up the open center aisle and spotted the other two members of the group crouched behind a display.

Michael heard Amity as they approached since Daryl moved along the ground like a ghost, and raised the gun in his hands quickly before relaxing and waiting for them to join their hiding spot.

Amity repeated the details about their visitor to the other two and waited for their thoughts.

"Could be friendly." Beth said and Amity nodded, her thoughts being along the same path.

"Could not be." Michael reminded them both but Amity shrugged lightly.

"The odds are four on one, I think it's worth a shot." She reasoned before they all looked to Daryl who seemed to be considering the situation.

"Only two of us should approach him. Enough to outnumber him, but it keeps the other two in our pocket as backup or to get the hell out of here and back to the prison if things go to shit." He said and the three with him nodded immediately.

The hunter was a born leader, even if he wouldn't admit it, and Amity could see it on his face that it still surprised him a bit when people automatically listened to him.

"I'll do it. Michael and I can." Amity said immediately, causing her brother to scoff.

The redhead could sense Daryl about to protest so she continued.

"Michael's strikes an intimidating enough picture and I can be unassuming enough to maybe put him at ease. We're sure the hell not sending Bethy out there-" Amity reasoned, ignoring the small noise of indignation from the blonde. "-and sending both you and Michael would have the kid running for the hills."

Daryl held her gaze for a moment before nodding, knowing a reasonable approach when he saw one.

Immediately, Amity went to stand but a noise at the front of the store had Daryl's arm hooking around her waist and keeping her in place. The quartet peered through the spaces of the display and spotted the young man in question cautiously entering the store, a book bag on his back and an axe in his hands.

Amity met her brother's eyes and nodded once, readjusting her bow in her hands before pulling out of Daryl's grasp as he seemed reluctant to let her go.

"Drop the weapon, kid." Michael said, his deep voice echoing in the space as he stepped out into the main aisle, his gun raising as the boy jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"You're _alive_." The young man said, looking at Michael with wide eyes until Amity stepped out next to him and drew the attention, her bow in her hands ready to be drawn back but pointing at the ground instead of at the kid.

"Good observation. With surveillance skills like that, there's no wonder why you're still living as well." Amity snarked, not being able to help herself and she noted the twitch of the young man's lips that could have been a suppressed smile as he took in both her and her words.

She spotted the shadow of Daryl moving across the front of the store behind the kid as they spoke but didn't fully look at him, not wanting to give away the fact he was getting into a more tactical position should the boy turn out to be more trouble than he looked.

"What happened to your face?" The boy asked, his eyes following the length of the scar that marred one of Amity's cheeks and she felt her heart stutter in her chest before a small frown tugged at her lips. Michael shifted forward with a noise of anger, the kid's hands immediately raising further into the air.

" _Whoa_ whoa, okay- I get it. Stupid tactless question when faced with an obviously protective guy with a gun is a no go. I gotcha." The kid stammered out and Amity couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement at his ramblings, moving to step past Michael and closer to the boy.

"Who are you with?" She asked him and the boy looked conflicted for a moment, as if he was debating on what to tell her before he let out a heavy sigh.

"No one." He answered, and Amity believed him. The hesitation he showed wasn't from lying, but from not wanting to admit that he didn't have someone covering his ass. He had decided to trust them for some reason.

Amity tilted her head as she considered returning the favor.

"I saw your car." She told him and watched as a slightly smug smile took over his features.

"It's sweet, right? Been keeping her running since everything went to hell." He replied, obviously proud of his vehicle and ability to keep it going.

"It's pretty awesome, I will admit. I'm Amity by the way, and this is my big brother, Michael." Amity said, returning his smile.

"Oh- uh, I'm Zach." The young man, Zach, introduced himself and Amity nodded as a bit of encouragement, sensing that he was definitely out of practice when it came to being around people.

Both Walkers knew that feeling.

"How many walkers have you killed?" She asked suddenly and Michael shot her a look which she ignored.

The guy look confused.

"Walkers?" He asked and Amity nodded once more.

"Yeah, the undead. The biters. Geeks. The... what was the word those other guys used?" She asked herself, thinking for a moment before remembering and rolling her eyes. "Oh yeah, the _lamebrains_."

"Oh- uh, I'm not sure actually." Zach answered after a moment of self-reflection, only a brief flash of guilt coloring his face.

"How many people?" Amity asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.

" _What_?" He shot back, sounding a bit affronted though his eyes dropping let Amity in on that there was at least one.

"How many people? Living breathing human beings." She reiterated though she knew she really didn't have to.

"I-" He began but his words fell off for a moment as his eyes met the floor before he seemed to steel himself and look back up, meeting Amity's gaze directly.

"One." He stated flatly.

"Why?" She questioned immediately after, but he didn't waver.

"They were bit and they asked me to." He told her and Amity believed him.

Time for her to return the trust he gave them.

"Daryl, Beth, I think he's okay." She called out suddenly, causing the young man's eye brows to furrow before he raised his axe once more at the sight of Daryl all but materializing from behind one of the shelves and moving to Amity's side, his bow raised slightly while Beth came up from behind them.

"There's more of you. I thought-" Zack began to stutter but Beth moved to stand on Daryl's other side and offered him a reassuring smile, one that Amity noticed he immediately locked on to.

"It's okay. I know it can be a lot, but you're not alone now." The blonde said gently and Zach looked between each of the four, his eyes landing on Beth last of all before he nodded.

Amity turned to Daryl then and after a moment the hunter looked over to her as well.

"Let's just finish clearing this place and get him back. We can make another run for the other places later." Daryl reasoned and the rest of the group nodded, Zach just watching them as they finished one last sweep of the store and headed out.

"I'm ridin' with you, kid." Michael piped up as they exited the store, turning around to force the doors back closed with Daryl's help. There was no reason to leave behind any trace of them being there.

"He's acting like it's to make sure you're not going to do anything stupid, but he really just wants to ride in your car." Amity informed Zach, smiling widely over at the young man and making him chuckle lightly.

She had seen the look on her brother's face when he laid eyes on the Charger- he couldn't hide it from her.

"Don't kill my brother, Zach Attack. No matter how fast he wants you to go- don't listen to him." She continued, reaching out to pat the boy twice on the shoulder before following Daryl and Beth back to their car and ignoring her brother's noise of indignation.

Amity climbed into the passenger seat once more after throwing her filled bag along with the rest in the trunk and turned to look at Beth in the backseat with a playful grin.

"He's cute." She sing-songed at the younger girl.

"He's alright." Beth replied with feigned indifference but Amity could see the slight pink tinge on the apples of her cheeks.

"He's still under watch." Daryl cut in and Amity rolled her eyes before twisting around to settle properly back into her seat, her head resting against the leather as she let her head fall to the side to look at the man next to her.

"You're cute too, Dixon. Don't be jealous." She teased, enjoying the way the man shifted a bit at her words, obviously uncomfortable with them.

"Shuddup." He grumbled, pulling a laugh from both females in the car.

"Not a chance."

* * *

It had only taken a couple of days for Zach to settle in perfectly amongst the group at the prison. The young man was naturally charismatic and willing to help, so much so that even Daryl had taken a fast liking to him and in turn, the young man seemed to look up to the hunter as a bit of a role model.

It was all very sweet really, which was something that Amity would never be caught saying aloud around Daryl.

The redhead watched from one of the guard towers as Zach followed Daryl's example at the fence line and grabbed a sharpened pipe from the area next to the fence then began shoving the pointed end through a few walker that were piling up.

She noted they were chatting about something- well, Zach was chatting anyways and Daryl was nodding here and there. Both males were focused on their task until Zach's attention was pulled away by Beth who was helping Carl and Rick take a few baskets of vegetables up from their small farm to the prison. Amity had noted the bit of a schoolboy crush the boy had on their resident songstress from the day he moved in.

She found it completely amusing while Daryl liked to roll his eyes and grumble about 'puppy love' and 'manning up.' Following that she would usually roll her eyes and he would press a kiss to her temple, invalidating his point about affection making you a pussy.

Daryl Dixon was many things, but a pussy was certainly not one of them.

The sound of footsteps on the metal stairs alerted Amity to someone else's presence, but she didn't bother to turn to see who it was. There were many people coming and going around the prison so she thought nothing of it until a pair of legs joined hers in dangling over the edge.

"Hey, Caleb." Amity greeted the man with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

The man's presence lately had gone from enjoyable to a bit of a nuisance as he continued to pester her about trying to return to the farm.

"Hey, Am." The doctor returned her greeting before a moment of silence settled between them, only broken by the man leaning over to knock his shoulder against Amity's. "Don't look so tense. I'm not here to bug you about the research." He assured her.

Though not convinced, Amity forced herself to ease some of the tension out of her shoulders as she looked fully at the doctor.

"Then what are you here for?" She wondered and he shrugged.

"Missed having you around. You've been avoiding me because of everything and it just... sucked. So I thought I'd find you." Caleb reasoned and Amity sighed softly, now giving the man a small but genuine smile.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be like that, but... I know you're wanting this thing to happen and I just don't think it's going to." She explained and the man just shook his head.

"We don't have to talk about that right now, Am. I just wanted to hang out." He told her and the woman nodded, actually relaxing then.

"You've been busy?" Amity asked, trying to make conversation now that they cleared the elephant in the room.

"Not too bad- the medicine that you all collected on the last run has us set for a while now as long as nothing too big happens." He told her and that brought a smile to her lips. She loved being useful more than almost anything else.

"Glad to hear that. We got those meds and Zach that day so I think that was a pretty big win." She said, turning to look back at where the boy in question had been but realized he was now alone at the fence.

Another set of footsteps, these ones quieter than Caleb's had been though they carried a pace that Amity recognized almost immediately. She leaned back to look around Caleb and spot Daryl just as he breached the top of the stairs.

"Hey." Amity greeted the man, a soft smile on her lips as she looked up at him.

Daryl nodded a reply, his eyes on Caleb for a beat longer than what would have been normal before he made his way over to them, leaning back against the guard tower once he settled behind where they were sat.

"Thought I'd come keep ya company, didn't know ya already had some." Daryl explained his presence, though with the way Zach was periodically glancing back at the tower, Amity didn't think that was true at all.

"Caleb just got up here. We were talking about the run the other day." Amity chirped, filling the man in as she leaned back on her elbows and let her head fall over her shoulder blades so that she could look at him upside down, noting the small smile her silliness gained her. "I was saying how much more I liked Zach than you." She teased and Daryl scoffed lightly at her words while Amity beamed at him.

"I'll just get going then." Caleb said suddenly, moving to climb to his feet which had Amity looking at him with confusion.

She thought he wanted to hang out?

"I just came to say hi, but I'm sure there is someone sitting around in the infirmary with a 'suspicious looking' rash or something who needs attending." He joked and Amity chuckled before waving him off with a small good-bye, turning to look at Daryl once the man had left and found the hunter glaring after him.

"Is that really necessary?" She asked, and Daryl looked at her with slightly wide eyes, apparently not expecting to be caught but he took it in stride nonetheless.

"He's a damn idiot if he thinks just you and him should be goin' back to the farm." He said, now moving to settle down next to Amity as Caleb had. His heavy boots dangling over the edge, rumpled jeans tucked into the tops of them in a way that only Daryl could make seem appealing.

Without hesitation, the redhead leaned against his arm, her head resting on his shoulder after she pressed a light kiss into the fabric there.

"I think he recognizes that only him and I would think it was worth it." She reasoned.

"Ya think it's worth it?" He questioned and the woman shrugged the best she could with how they were sat.

"If we can figure this thing out then yes." She confirmed.

"Ain't worth dyin' over." Daryl grumbled and Amity chuckled lightly.

"I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, Dixon."

"Well, shit happens."

"You're telling me."

"You're not going alone." Daryl told her firmly and Amity pushed down her immediate defensive response, telling herself that he was just being like that because her cared.

"Nothing's decided yet, Daryl." She soothed but the man didn't seem to respond. Amity reached out, gently tugging one of his rough calloused hands onto her lap so that she could thread her fingers through his own, the sight of their hands twisted into one another's nearly laughable. She had pale slender fingers and small hands while his were dirty, tanned, calloused, and almost twice the size of her own.

"I ain't gonna lose you now, girl." The hunter said quietly, almost as if the words weren't meant to be heard so she simply let them hang in the air, instead giving his hand a gentle squeeze and scooting closer into his side.

There was no deciding who was lost anymore.

No matter how much they fought against fate they had no control over who lived or died.

Amity just hoped that her family would live.


	23. Chapter 23

"You have a lower center of gravity than him, Beth! Toss him on his ass like I taught you!" Amity called out as she stalked around the pair that were locked in a struggle out on the lawn of the prison.

"What does it look I'm trying to do?" Beth shot back through gritted teeth, a small grunt leaving her lips as she fought against the hold that Zach had her in.

The young man was taller and stronger than the willowy blonde, but he was the same to Amity and the redhead would have him on his ass in a second flat if he grabbed her like she had instructed him to grab Beth.

Another grunt of exertion left the youngest Greene and suddenly she had her feet planted as she needed and was leaning forward, tugging Zach along with her and throwing off his balance so that he was sent tumbling over her shoulders to hit the grass with a thud.

"That's more like it!" Amity cheered her protege on with pride, moving forward to slap a high-five against the blonde's palm before both females looked down at the boy who was still lying on his back on the ground.

"I don't wanna play anymore." Zach whined, his tone only half-joking and so, after nearly an hour of abuse, Amity decided to take pity on him.

"We're done for the day anyways, you two." She informed them, pretending like she didn't hear the sigh of relief from the ground. "Get cleaned up in time for dinner. Carol said she was trying her hand at some kind of stir-fry now that the peppers grew and she'll be pissed if you miss it."

As Beth moved to help Zach up after both young adults confirmed they heard Amity's warning, the redhead moved away from the pair and their flirty teasing of one another. She decided that she would go down to the farming area of the yard in search of Rick and Carl and sure enough, they were exactly where she had expected them to be.

"Hey, Amity!" Carl called out as she approached, immediately setting the large shovel in his hands aside as he easily gave in to the distraction that her arrival provided.

"Hey yourself, Farmer C." Amity greeted in reply, laughing as the young man reached out to hug her but decided to gently shove her instead as she teased him.

"What brings you down here, Am?" Rick asked as he joined his son and group member, offering the younger woman a kind smile that she didn't hesitate to return.

"Just finished up helping Beth so I thought I'd come see what you two were up to." Amity explained as Carl let out a small snort of amusement.

"We're doing what we always are doing." Carl said, making it obvious that he was getting a bit fed-up with it all even though Amity knew the boy loved spending so much one-on-one time with his father.

"Did I ask for sass?" Amity questioned with a teasing tone, reaching out to push the brim of Carl's hat down over his eyes and all but cackling when the younger boy swatted at her hands.

"You come to help then?" Rick asked, watching the two with amusement and not hesitating to pick on Amity as well.

The redhead looked at him with wide eyes, obviously trying to think of a way out of helping before she sighed in defeat, resisting the urge to shove Carl when she heard him snickering under his breath at her misfortune.

"Guess I did." Amity replied, not sounding all that thrilled as Carl handed her the shovel he had set aside with a shit-eating grin.

"Welcome to the team." Carl said with amusement so plain in his voice that it had her rolling her eyes.

"Thrilled to be here." Amity said glumly in return.

* * *

"My aches have aches." Amity whined as she sat down next to Maggie in the eating area, leaning heavily against the shoulder of the short-haired woman at her side.

"You should've known better." Maggie replied, the laugh she let out causing Amity to shake a bit as the woman's shoulders moved in response.

"Excuse me for thinking that I could try to catch up with loved ones without being sentenced to hard labor." Amity replied, making her tone especially snotty as she moved to sit straight and stuck her nose up pointedly.

"You're excused." Zach chimed in as he sat down at the large table with them, Beth taking a seat next to him as his words wiped the look off of the redhead's face.

"Glenn, throw your crackers at him." Amity requested of the man on the other side of Maggie who leaned forward to look at her with confusion.

"Why me?" He asked.

"Because I don't want to waste _my_ crackers." The woman reasoned and Glenn scoffed in response.

"Maybe next time." He told her and she sighed dramatically as Zach stuck his tongue out at her.

"I shouldn't be subjected to this kind of abuse." Amity insisted, making almost everyone at the table roll their eyes at her dramatics.

"You love it." Beth insisted and Amity made a noise of disagreement.

"I love you guys, not your behavior. There's a difference." She pointed out and after a few chuckles, the conversation moved steadily forward and Amity focused on eating the stir-fry that Carol had made taste heavenly.

She considered asking Carol to marry her- and not for the first time.

"You still plan on asking the council about the trip tomorrow?" Maggie asked from next to her, the woman's voice nearing a whisper as she leaned in close to Amity.

It had been almost two weeks since Caleb had first brought up returning to the farm in search of her research and only a couple of days ago had Amity made her decision. If there was a chance that everything was still there and they could get to it, then it would be worth it.

Maggie, the only person that Amity had told of her decision apart from Caleb, didn't agree.

"Yeah, I have to at least get everyone else's opinions before I decide to go or not." Amity explained and Maggie shook her head at her.

"That's not what the council is about." The woman insisted. "The decision they make ain't a guiding suggestion, it's supposed to be the final say."

"Not when it's a plan that just involves me." Amity replied simply.

"It doesn't just involve you. Dr. S is our only real doctor around. If he gets himself killed that affects the group." Maggie pointed out, trying to sway her best friend.

"If the council says no then I won't put him at risk. Promise." Amity answered with the only promise she could offer on the subject.

"Or yourself." Maggie insisted, her eyes narrowing at Amity who looked back at her without saying a word.

"Amity-" She continued upon receiving no confirmation, but Glenn's voice cutting in had both women clamming up.

"What's going on?" Glenn had asked, finally catching on to the quiet and tense conversation happening at his side.

"Maggie's being a worry wart about walkers on the fence." Amity replied easily, not missing the way Maggie shot her a pointed look as she lied so easily.

"The crew's on it. Ryan thinks he's got a way to lead a few of them away from the fence to be picked off." Glenn said with a reassuring smile offered to his girlfriend who returned it with a bit of guilt behind her eyes for going along with her friend's lie.

"See- nothing to worry about!" Amity said quickly before she scarfed down the last few bites of her dinner and rose swiftly to her feet.

"I'll see you guys later, Carl and Rick killed me out there today. I'm beat." She excused, the rest of the table buying it apart from Maggie and wishing her a good evening as she moved to deal with her dishes before heading into cellblock A and up the stairs towards the cell she shared with Daryl.

What she hadn't been expecting was for her roommate to be laying sprawled out across the bunk when she walked in, his boots still on his feet though they hung off the edge of the bed.

The hunter had an arm slung over his face, his eyes hidden behind the crook of his elbow and his mouth hung open slightly. It was his deep even breaths that let Amity know he was asleep. The woman simply took in the heart-warming sight for a moment, absolute fondness for the man flooding her as she weighed her options when it came to waking him up or leaving him.

Eventually, the woman made her decision and let the sheet that hung over their doorway fall shut behind her before she toed off her own dirty boots and padded across the cell floor in sock-clad feet. Leaning over Daryl she waited for him to startle awake, but once he didn't she couldn't resist leaning down and pressing a kiss to his hair then pulling back as the touch had him pulling his arm away from his eyes suddenly. She smiled down at the man as blue eyes blinked sleepily up at her though his body was tense and ready to fight.

"Morning, sleeping beauty." Amity greeted with a teasing grin.

"You're the damn princess." Daryl muttered in response, his sleep roughened voice having an immediate affect on the woman who had now moved to sit on the bed next to him.

"But you're so pretty." She chirped back with amusement, laughing until she was pulled roughly on top of the man, her chest pressing against his as she looked down at her significant other with a bit of surprise behind her eyes.

"You don't never stop, do ya?" Daryl asked, his voice deep and Amity couldn't find words to respond with so she settled for shaking her head.

"Drive a man nearabout crazy." The hunter continued before the redhead couldn't resist any longer and leaned down to press her lips firmly to his own, stopping any further comments he had about her annoying nature in their tracks.

The older man's response to her kiss was instant. Months going on a year that was inching towards two of slow-building trust lending to the man being able to accept her affection and want with equal passion. Amity made a pleased noise as his tongue brushed over her's, their kiss deepening while the air in the room grew heavier, hotter. She grasped at the fabric of Daryl's shirt as his rough hands slid down the length of her back and over the swell of her rear before he gripped the mass with restrained roughness, pressing her firmly against his hips. A small gasp left the redhead as she felt his hardness against her pelvis, straining at his jeans already.

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as his mouth devoured hers. She took every moment to savor the taste of him on her tongue, the feeling of his strong figure against her lithe one. The couple hadn't taken the final step towards having sex as of yet. They simply hadn't had the privacy to consider such things until recently and then neither of them found the time. Everything was always getting in the way when things heated up and Amity would be damned if it happened again. She wanted Daryl in a way that she couldn't remember ever wanting someone before.

Her fingertips ghosted over the curve of the hunter's throat as she lifted a hand towards his face, his stubble tickling them before she carded her fingers through his ever-lengthening hair. Gripping the slightly dirty yet impossibly soft stands, the woman tugged gently on his roots as she rolled her hips to his, the combination pulling a deep groan from the back of the man's throat and sending an intense shiver through Amity.

In a second flat, Amity felt her back being pressed into the mattress as Daryl hovered over her, propped up by his arms braced against the bed as his hips settled between her legs. The redhead didn't waste a moment before she hooked her legs up around his waist, her own gentle hands tugging him down closer to her in stark contrast with the roughness of his palms on her waist as he slid them up her torso and under her shirt.

Their embrace only broke as he tugged the article of clothing off over her head, tossing it to the side as their lips met once more and she reached for the front buttons of his shirt. At first, Daryl tensed as she made quick work of the first button so Amity stilled her movements, leaning back so that her head hit the pillow as she looked up and met his familiar blues eyes, his pupils blown wide from lust.

"It's just me." She said softly, her voice still a bit breathless from their kiss.

Daryl was quiet for a moment longer as he searched her face then nodded his head slightly, the movement slightly jerky as he held her gaze.

"It's _only_ you." He said in return, his voice holding something more to it that Amity didn't have the time to dissect before his lips were at the curve of her throat and he was peeling his shirt back from his shoulders himself.

* * *

The sound of Amity's name from the doorway had the woman letting out a small unhappy groan as fought against the wakefulness that was slowly ripping her from her dreamland. Her body was sore, from the hard labor she had done the day before or Daryl she wasn't sure, but she assumed both.

"Merle, what the hell? Get out." A deep voice snapped from next to her and she felt the blanket that had been covering her well enough be pulled up to her chin, the action finally having her opening her eyes.

She first spotted Daryl at her side, an angry look on his face which had her interest perking up in a way that only continued as she noted his sturdy chest that was bared to the morning light streaming in from the doorway. She then followed that light towards the entrance of the cell where the eldest Dixon stood looking at the pair in bed with a cross between amusement and a leer that had the redhead considering threatening to kick his balls up into his throat.

"Relax, little brother. I ain't here lookin' to ogle your woman, though I reckon she's an eyeful." Merle drawled out and Amity flipped him the bird in response, careful not to jostle the covers as she was still bare as the day she was born underneath them.

"Then what the fuck do ya want?" Daryl snapped, obviously not entertained by his older brother's words.

"And why don't you know how to knock? Or, like, yell loudly from outside?" Amity added, settling back into the pillows with the resolve to let the Dixons hash it out so that Merle could leave and she could get dressed.

"I didn't expect Darylina here to have the sack to stick it to ya, Red. Can't blame me for thinkin' yall'd be in here reading some damn romance novel, not recoverin' from a night of-"

"It was a hypothetical question, asshole." Amity snapped, cutting the older man off before he could get to far into his perverted rant.

"Bottomline is that ya both were supposed to be at the council meeting going on twenty minutes ago." Merle said finally and Amity groaned in response, both because she didn't want to move and because she felt bad for being late.

Merle opened his mouth at the sound but Daryl quickly cut him off, already sensing that the man was going to say something that would piss the pair of them off before they even got out of bed.

"Tell 'em we'll be there in a few." Daryl said, fixing his brother with a glare that had him laughing and holding up his hand and metal stump in a show of playful surrender as he backed out of the cell, letting the curtain fall closed behind him as he did so.

"Your brother's an asshole." Amity said once the man was gone and Daryl turned his head to look over at her with the slightest smile pulling crookedly at his lips.

"You just now figuring that out?"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Amity was walking into the space they used as a meeting room with Daryl following along behind her.

Ignoring the amused looks that were being exchanged and tossed their way, Amity put all of her focus into hunting down an empty seat.

"Nice of you to join us." Carol said, one of the only ones that wanted to tease them and also didn't fear Daryl's reaction by doing so.

"Good morning to you too." Amity replied, narrowing her eyes at her friend as she took a seat across the table from her, Daryl taking the empty seat at her side between her and his brother.

Getting Merle on the council hadn't come without a fight, but surprisingly the people of Woodbury had backed him up about it. Merle didn't really care one way or another, but since he had taken over the prison's security- it really just made sense to have him on and the people of Woodbury said as much while also insisting he could represent them well since he had lived among them for a long while. So there he was.

Amity herself wasn't officially on the council, but she was often brought in as a bit of a consultant for things involving the mental and emotional wellbeing of their group and she was there today due to her letting Hershel know a few days ago that she had something to bring up to them all.

"First order of business-" Hershel began, taking control as the acting head of the council. "-Amity has joined us today because she had a request." He informed the rest of the group.

The redheaded woman nodded, ignoring the curious look from Glenn, and the narrowing of eyes from Sasha while both Carol, Merle, and Daryl just seemed to be waiting to hear what she had to say.

Realizing that she was supposed to be explaining herself then, with a nod of insistence from Hershel, Amity cleared her throat and pushed her chair back a bit so that she could see everyone at the table.

"I'm putting in a request to have a run authorized." Amity announced and she tried her best to block out the way that Daryl tensed beside of her.

He had already caught on to her intentions with the run- of course he had.

"Where to? How long? How many people?" Sasha listed off her questions without pause, her dark eyes flickering over to the hunter of the group as everyone had caught on to his obvious displeasure.

"Request denied." Daryl said suddenly, but Amity didn't spare him a glance.

"Hershel's farm, three days tops, and only two." Amity replied, the room going dead silent except for the sound of Daryl pushing his chair back, rising to his feet as he usually did when tense and displeased. Beth always said he stalked around a room like a caged wolf when pissy.

"The farm is lost." Hershel told the redhead, his voice firm though it held a fair bit of confusion. "Why would you want to go back?"

"What does it matter why she wants to? She ain't." Merle cut in and Amity turned to throw a sharp glare in his direction that he met head on.

"Merle..." Hershel warned, trying to keep the peace. "She has a right to make her case."

"Like hell." Daryl growled from where he had paused in his prowling, Amity now looking over at him and meeting his eyes. He was angry, that much was clear.

"When the farm fell I left behind some very important things that could prove invaluable to our group if found." Amity said slowly and clearly, turning away from her angry lover to meet the eyes of the head of the council.

"What things?" Carol asked softly.

"My research." Amity replied and she heard Merle scoff from beside her

"Shut your mouth, Dixon or I'll shut it for you!" She snapped, rounding on the older man as her fiery temper finally broke. Amity could take a lot, but she despised being mocked as if she was stupid or told what to do as if she was a child.

"I'd like to see you try, sugar." Merle growled back.

"I'll-" Amity began but Hershel cut over her.

"Who is it that you're wanting to take with you, Amity?" Hershel asked, his voice raised to carry over the arguing. "Michael? I'm assuming it's not Daryl..."

"Caleb." She replied and watched as the name she stated sunk in.

"What?" Glenn asked, confused.

"You're gonna risk your ass with no one but the damn _doctor_ to watch it? You're stupider than ya look, girl." Merle said, laughing though his tone held no amusement.

"I don't need anyone to watch my ass!" Amity shot back with a fair amount of bite in her words. "I watched it fine on my own before."

"That was before you didn't have to, Amity." Carol said gently, easily putting out a fair amount of the fire that had erupted within the redhead.

"We can't let our only certified medical doctor walk out of here on a hunch." Sasha said, acting as the voice of reason. "Why would he even _want_ to?"

"It was his damn dumb ass idea in the first place." Daryl snapped, stalking angrily up to the table.

"He thinks there's a chance that we could figure this thing out if we both pooled our expertise and had a place to start." Amity explained to the group, again ignoring Daryl as he huffed and puffed.

"Sasha is right, Amity- we can't risk losing Caleb over something that is most likely gone now." Hershel said, voice kind as ever as he spoke to the young woman.

"With all due respect, Caleb may be our doctor and he may be an important member of our community, but he is not a commodity that you guys, or anyone else, can make personal decisions for. He's his own person." Amity informed them all, her tone firm and slightly scolding.

"He's a pain in my ass, that's what he is." Merle muttered and Amity had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Take the damn vote already." Daryl insisted, knowing that at least his brother would be on his side in the voting and he assumed that Carol would be too, meaning that Amity's request would most likely get denied.

"What if just I go?" Amity asked suddenly, reading the look on Sasha, Carol, and Hershel's face that with Caleb going the entire venture was out of the question.

"Hell no." Daryl said firmly, turning to look at Amity and she met his gaze without hesitation.

She could read the anger in his expression plain as day, but there was also a fair amount of fear lingering behind his eyes and she felt guilty for putting it there. She wasn't doing this to upset the man- or anyone else. She was doing this because she truly believed that it was the right thing to do. She wanted to help people more than anything, and she might have been the only one who could help everyone in this way.

"That's not something I'd feel comfortable with." Carol said, looking between the couple that were squaring off with a bit of apology but shaking her head all the while.

"My vote is fuck no on both accounts." Merle chimed in, Hershel shaking his head slightly at the man's language.

"My vote is yes if she wants to just go alone." Sasha said and it was only then that Daryl broke his staring contest with Amity to shoot a glare at the younger woman.

"Don't look at me like that, Dixon- she can make decisions for herself." Sasha shot at the hunter and Amity nodded her head at her in a show of thanks.

"Carol? Your official vote?" Hershel questioned the older woman.

Carol was conflicted and that much was apparent as she looked between both Amity and Daryl who were looking over at her with expectancy. On one hand, she didn't want Amity to go anywhere at all, and especially not alone, but she wasn't on the council to decide things based on what she wanted alone.

"My vote is to let her do as she'd like." Carol said, her answer coming out as a sigh.

"Y'all have gone off the damned deep-end. Do this woman kumbaya shit some other time." Merle said, obviously displeased along with his brother but Carol didn't balk under his words or change her vote.

"Daryl?" Hershel asked.

"You know my damn vote!" Daryl snapped at the older man who just looked at him calmly.

"Daryl?" He repeated and the hunter shook his head.

"No- my vote is no." Daryl reiterated, confirming his official vote on the matter.

"Two to two- Glenn, Doc. You two gonna let Red walk herself into her damned grave?" Merle asked the two men who had yet to vote, one of which was looking at Amity with obvious worry.

The look on Hershel's face had Daryl shifting in his spot, wound up over the whole thing and over the fact that he couldn't truly stop Amity from walking out of the gates if she wanted to. Never before had he _truly_ wished that he had a say in her actions, but what she was doing was a death sentence and he couldn't lose her.

"She goes, I go." Daryl spoke up suddenly, pulling everyone's attention from Hershel and Glenn to him- even Amity looking at him with wide eyes now.

"What?" She hissed, voice low as the words were meant just for him.

"You've lost it if ya think I'd let you go back there alone." Daryl told her, but Amity shook her head.

"I don't need-" She began but the hunter talked over her.

"I don't give a rat's ass what you _need_. That's what you're gonna get. You go, I go." He stated and Amity was torn between punching him and kissing him. Though, she felt that punching him would cover more of her emotions in that moment.

"You can't go- we need you here." Hershel said, breaking the silence that followed Daryl's decision and it was only then that Amity realized the youngest Dixon was pulling one under her with his declaration.

"Wait-" She began, ready to take Daryl out of the deal whether he liked it or not, but Hershel exchanged a look with Glenn before speaking loudly to the room.

"Request denied." The farmer said with finality and Amity felt her stomach drop.

"You son of a bitch." She hissed suddenly, rounding on Daryl with narrowed eyes as the man looked at her with a bit of suppressed smugness that confirmed her thoughts.

The _clever_ son of a bitch.

"We will reconvene in two days." Hershel was saying to the group, but Amity was only focused on the hunter who had just pulled a fast one on everyone in the room.

As the council rose to leave, Amity wasted no time in grabbing the man's arm and pulling him from the room and further into the depths of the prison without sparing a second glance to anyone else. She pulled and tugged, ignoring his protests until they were somewhere that she was sure no one would overhear or stumble upon them.

"You knew he say no if you were going to go!" Amity accused, rounding on Daryl as soon as they came to a stop.

"How would I know that?" He asked simply, feigning innocence and making Amity want to scream in frustration.

"Because you're not as stupid as you want people to think, Dixon!" Amity snapped, her backhanded compliment coming out as a growl.

"I didn't say anything that wasn't the truth, girl." Daryl said, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned a broad shoulder against the cool concrete wall of the prison hallway. "If you decided to run out of here, I'd go with ya."

Amity's anger deflated slightly at that as she attempted to be a reasonable human rather than just going with the urge to give into her frustrations and be angry with the hunter. _Logically_ , she knew that if it had been Daryl trying to do what she was, she would have done and said the same thing.

"I can do this, Daryl." Amity told him, meeting his eyes as she tried to convince him.

"Can't risk that." Daryl replied, gruff voice low.

The redhead looked at him for a long moment before she stepped forward, one hand reaching up to gently rest against a prickly cheek before she pushed herself to her tiptoes to press her lips briefly to his, pulling back to where they barely touched.

"That isn't your choice to make." She told him, her voice barely a whisper before she was moving away and back down the prison corridor, leaving Daryl tense in her wake.

* * *

"I can still go with you. They wouldn't know until we were already gone." Caleb said, leaning against the wall of Amity and Daryl's cell as he watched the redhead shove her packed book bag under the bed and out of view.

She had already made the decision to return to the farm, that the whole endeavor was worth the risk, and she be hard-pressed to go back on that now.

"You can't do that, Caleb. The council was right about that at least- everyone here needs you." Amity told the man who didn't look at all pleased with her words.

She had her fair share of displeased men on her hands already, so another one was barely a concern.

"You're needed here too, Amity." The man insisted just as the woman straightened up to look at him with narrowed eyes.

"Are you trying to talk me out of this now too?" She asked, her tone containing a thinly veiled warning.

"I'm trying to make you see that you don't have to do this alone." Caleb said, correcting her assumption.

"I'll be faster on my own anyways." Amity insisted.

"But what if you-" Caleb began, but he trailed off as a broad figure filled the doorway of the cell and both he and Amity looked over to spot the eldest Walker sibling.

"Get out." Michael told Caleb flatly and Amity's brows shot towards her hairline at her brother's tone.

"Okay, that's _not_ necessary." Amity protested, but Caleb was already moving towards the cell door with an apologetic look tossed towards Amity. The doctor was smarter than pissing off the mountain of a man that was Michael Walker.

"Mikey, what the hell?" Amity asked her brother once they were alone and Michael shook his head as he entered the cell.

"What are you doing, Bug?" He asked and the woman looked at him with confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Amity. I _know_ you. Carol told me about the council meetin' and I know you enough to know that you're not goin' to take their no for an answer, so I want to know what you're doin'." He said without flourish and Amity knew that there was no way of getting out of telling him the truth. Her big brother knew her better than anyone.

"I've got to do this, Michael." She told him quietly.

The older man seemed to consider her for a long moment, before nodding his head slowly and Amity felt a weight lift from her chest.

He was going to let her go! It was a shocking decision, really, as the man was as overprotective as they came, but she wouldn't dwell on the hows or whys of getting her way.

"We'll leave after Glenn and Maggie go on watch tonight. Doubt they'll be lookin' at much other than one another." Michael said suddenly, bursting Amity's bubble and causing blue eyes to widened in response.

" _We_?" She echoed, tone questioning.

"You ain't goin' alone, Amity Lynn- don't even think about tryin' that bullshit. Either both of us go and we go tonight or I'm tellin' Daryl and he'll have this place locked down before you can blink." Michael threatened, using his best big brother tone and her accursed middle name to let her know that he wasn't using empty threats.

"Tonight." Amity stated after a beat of silence, defeat settling into her as she looked up at her brother.

"Tonight. Meet me on the back catwalk, we'll go out the rear entrance." Michael said and the redhead nodded, letting out a sigh as Michael leaned forward to ruffle her hair none-to-gently.

"Hate you." Amity told him and that had a chuckle leaving the man.

"Hate you too, Bug."

* * *

The rest of the day passed quickly though Amity was regretting the silence that stretched between herself and Daryl. It wasn't as if they were avoiding one another, no- the exact opposite really. Daryl was glued to her side now as if she was going to bolt at any second and it was driving the redhead up the wall. There was just a tension between them that words seemed unable to breach ever since the meeting with the council.

"Dixon, I've got to say that you are the _worst_ smelling shadow I've ever had." Amity finally commented to the man as they sat out on the walkway in front of their cell, looking down on the people mulling about the ground floor of Cellblock A. It was a lame attempt to break the ice, but a valiant attempt all the same.

For her efforts, Amity received a grunt in response and had to resist the urge to shove the hunter fully over the edge on which they were perched.

She let the silence settle back between them as her patience thinned and instead focused on watching the rest of their family down below.

Beth was passing Judith off to Rick now that the former sheriff had entered the space. The father smiled down at his daughter while Beth quickly went over to Zach who had been loitering at the entrance of the cellblock, obviously waiting for her, and then the two of them disappeared into the main lobby outside and out of Amity's view.

Maggie was laughing at something that Michael had said as the two sat on the stairs, Glenn entering the cellblock a moment later and waving at the pair before joining them and smiling as Maggie seemed to recount what had just been said. It was Glenn's laughter that then echoed off the concrete walls and Amity found herself smiling softly at the sight.

There was so many people in that room that she loved with everything she had.

They were people that Amity would do anything to protect- anything to make life even a tiny bit better or easier for them.

It was an emotion that flooded her so strongly that it concreted her decision to return to the farm in her brain that much more.

She then thought of the man still sat at her side, the man that she would do anything and everything to protect. The man she loved.

She _loved_?

The notion of such a thing had been bouncing around in her head for a long time, but love was such an abstract concept that she couldn't seem to wrestle down in her mind. It was something that she knew she _felt_ , but the idea of applying it so strongly to one individual in such a way escaped her.

It was a thought that tore through her chest and warmed it at the same time, and without hesitation, Amity reached for the hand of her hunter as she simply sought his touch.

She hadn't expected him to take her hand, not with the way things had been between them that day, but as warm fingers threaded through her own, the woman felt the emotion she had been wrestling with the last few moments as clear as day.

She loved Daryl Dixon.

And that night, she was going to be leaving him.


	24. Chapter 24

Sounds bounced off the concrete walls of the prison at night in a way that made sneaking around next to impossible. The only task that was harder than sneaking out of the cellblock unheard, was sneaking out of steel trap that was Daryl's arms around Amity as he slept and she pretended to do so.

The first time she moved after his breathing had grown deep and steady, the man's hold on her tightened to the point that she had to resist groaning at the feeling of pressure on her bones. After a few long moments though, his grip had relaxed and she slipped a little further out of his hold.

Eventually, after a lot of small movements and a fair amount of mental cursing, Amity was free of the hunter's arms and quickly pulled her pack from under the bed where she had left it. Quietly, she tossed the bag onto her shoulders and hesitated only a moment to look at the man she was leaving behind asleep in their cell.

He was going to be _pissed_ \- that much she knew for certain. He was going to be mad as hell when he found her gone. She wouldn't put it past him to come after them either, but she hoped that the note she left Rick was enough to keep both of the men sated and patient at the prison.

They _would_ be coming back eventually- her and Michael.

That was a thought that she had to keep firmly planted in her mind as she cast one last look at the gruff man and quietly moved towards the cell door.

She would see him again. She had to.

Sneaking out of the prison building hadn't taken nearly as long as it had to escape from Daryl.

That being said, it was obvious she was running late when she stepped out onto one of the catwalks and found her brother looking at her with obvious annoyance.

"Took you long enough, Bug. You get lost or somethin'?" He asked quietly and the woman rolled her eyes.

"I had to escape from a ridiculous light-sleeping Dixon, thank you." She whispered back.

Michael nodded at her words before gesturing to one of the guard towers near the front of the yard.

"Glenn and Maggie are up in that one. They went into the main room of the tower only about five minutes or so ago so we need to haul ass across the yard to get out of here before they decide to pay the world attention again." Michael directed and Amity nodded, more than willing to fall into whatever plan her brother had for them.

It was going to be a harder trip now that the council denied her request as that meant she didn't get a car to take, nor many supplies, but she was confident in their ability to figure it out.

They were Walkers and they were made to survive this world in an ironic way.

The siblings decided not to waste anymore time chit-chatting over game plans and instead decided to act.

Michael led the way across the yard, both of them staying low to the ground as they made their way towards the gate.

The only detour was by Amity who ignored her brother's hiss of annoyance and stopped by the crop fields to tuck the note she had written behind the tools, knowing that Rick or Carl would find it the next morning before anyone else was up or looking for her- that was unless Daryl woke up in the middle of the night.

Now back at her brother's side, the pair slipped through the main gate and followed the line of the fence to where Glenn had cut it open what felt like ages ago.

Holding back the chainlink, Michael let Amity crawl through first before following and both of them threaded the wire back through the gaps to secure the place from walkers once more.

"You still wantin' to do this, Amity?" Michael asked now that they were on the edge of the dark forest, both staring into the shadows with identical blue eyes.

They would have to travel fast and all night if they wanted to put enough distance between themselves and the prison so that no one could follow with good reason.

"I have to, Michael." Amity replied, voice soft as she violently shoved away the fear and guilt that was crawling up inside her chest.

"Then let's get to movin'." Michael said simply, and so their mission began.

* * *

"You see that?" Michael asked, his voice low but he was no longer whispering.

"More trees?" Amity replied, her tone betraying the exhaustion that ate at her now that the sun was barely creeping up on the horizon.

The siblings had been on the move all night long, ducking through the trees and tripping over branches and undergrowth all while trying to keep as quiet as possible and not leave an easy trail to follow.

It was a process to say the least.

"No, the tent." Michael explained and Amity stopped in her tracks, now intent on finding what Michael had spotted.

After taking a moment to truly look, the redhead located what he saw- a small green tent set up a few yards away from the pair.

At once, both of the siblings crouched down and kept their sights trained on the tent while listening to the woods around them, relying on their survival-heightened senses to keep them safe.

"You think it's bein' used?" Michael wondered quietly and Amity shrugged in response.

"We have three options." The woman began, gaining her brother's full attention. "We either go into the campsite and greet who or whatever is in there-" She continued, holding up a hand as Michael moved to speak.

"We pop a squat and keep watch on the tent to wait whoever or whatever could be in there out." She listed. " _Or_ \- we could keep moving past and leave the thought of it all behind us."

A beat of silence passed between the two before they simultaneously stood and began to move away from the campsite.

Whoever or whatever was there, it was for another day.

* * *

Early morning in the prison that day was like any other. Everyone rose in time for breakfast before their respective jobs.

Everyone kept the prison moving like clockwork.

Everyone reveled in the fact that they had a relatively safe place to call home.

The only thing that was disrupting the usual groove of life at the prison was Carl Grimes.

Sprinting into the cellblock, Carl's eyes were wide as he hopped down the stairs and cast those widened blue eyes around him.

He spotted his father leaning against the railing of the staircase talking to Daryl about something that Carl couldn't begin to guess and he felt relief flood through him at the sight. They were exactly who he had been searching for.

He wasn't quite sure how the men would respond to what he had to say. All he knew was that he had went down to the farm early at his dad's request and now he had something that would please neither of the two men he was approaching.

"She ain't on fence duty then where is she?" Daryl was growling as Carl came up, neither of the men's attention turning to the boy as he did so.

"Daryl, I'm sure she's just taking a walk or something. We don't need anybody jumping to conclusions." Rick said, trying to soothe the man who he seemed to be the only voice of reason for him sometimes.

"Uh, dad-" Carl said, finally having both men looking at him. "You both need to read this."

Offering out the dirt smudged piece of paper towards them, Carl noted the way Daryl's eyes narrowed before he snatched the note quicker than Rick could and unfolded it without pause.

It was her handwriting, that was something Daryl noticed immediately.

After hours of watching the redhead scrawl words across blank pages of her notebooks, Daryl would be damned dull if he didn't recognize the gentle slopes of her r's and the wonkiness of her a's.

 _Rick or Carl and eventually, Daryl,_

 _I don't want to begin with saying that the council forced my hand... but the council forced my hand._

 _This was something I had to do. Something that needed to be done and there was no one else that could or would do it._

 _We need the research that I left behind at the farm and if there is even the slightest possibility that it is still there and still intact... well, it isn't something I can live with not knowing._

 _The hope that this is a starting place for a cure to the disease that kicked off this whole shit show is something more important than simply surviving day to day. That hope will keep us going through this and if we do succeed in making a cure for the bite, or even a vaccination, then everything will begin to change again. We can get back to lives without fear. We can live happily with everyone and create a safe place for Carl, and Judith, and Beth, and Zach to grow up and thrive in._

 _I hope that you guys understand why I had to do this._

 _It was for everyone._

 _Daryl, don't be rash- don't come after me. I'm going to come back._

 _Just like how I knew you would come back to me, I will always come back to you._

 _Have a little faith and tell Carol I'm sorry that I inadvertently drug Michael into this._

 _Stay safe and I'll see you soon._

 _All of my love,_

 _Amity_

Daryl scanned the last few lines of the letter once then twice more before he found himself folding up the note and shoving it roughly into his pocket.

Both of the Grimes were watching him carefully, Rick having caught on to what had happened and seemed to be waiting for Daryl to say something.

"Damned girl's got a death wish." The hunter muttered, swiping an arm across his forehead to hide the emotion that he felt tumulting within his chest.

He hated the thought of Amity being away from him, of her having to face the world and the dangers it offered without him there to protect her.

Even if she didn't _need_ his protection, something that she claimed against anytime it was mentioned, Daryl wanted to give it.

He needed to.

It was the only thing he had to offer her.

It was something that Jim had told him the day they left him along the side of the road- that Daryl needed to keep her safe, to protect her with everything he had if he didn't want to lose her. A dying man knew better than most that people and life could be ripped away in a blink of an eye and what he had said, Daryl had taken to heart.

Now he was powerless.

"She's gonna come back, Daryl." Carl said, his voice quiet as he spoke to the obviously agitated man.

Daryl regarded the young boy for a moment as he breathed in heavily through his nose, the rush of air being used to steady himself as he felt like he was about to veer off course and crash and burn- it was the concern and the small bit of fear that he saw behind the boy's eyes that had him straightening up with a nod of his head.

"'Course she is. She ain't stupid and she's got Mike with her." Daryl said simply, unsure if he was reassuring Carl or himself at that point.

"Exactly. Michael won't let anything happen to his sister." Rick added, looking between his son and friend before reaching out and patting a hand firmly against Daryl's upper arm.

"Got to get the day started, man. Go find Carol, I think you need to talk to her." Rick suggested, obviously trying to keep the hunter busy, but Daryl couldn't even find it in him to scoff at his obviousness since it was as good of plan as any.

"Yeah, I'll find her." Daryl said, adjusting his crossbow that he had slung over his shoulder as usual before moving to leave the conversation.

"She'll come back, Daryl. I know it." Rick called after him, apparently needing to believe that Daryl believed as much so the Southern man took the hint and nodded his head towards him before continuing on to the kitchen.

* * *

Two days had come and gone and Amity would have loved to say that they passed quickly and easily, but that was bullshit.

She hadn't walked this much since she first had to abandon her car at the beginning of the whole damned apocalypse.

"You sure we're getting close, Mikey?" Amity asked, dragging her feet a bit though she kept her bow held slightly aloft in her grip.

The pair were on open road now, the forest left behind them as they relied on the occasionally crowded asphalt to guide them back to where they had first broke down.

Where they had lost Sophia and where T-Dog cut himself and Daryl saved them both.

She suddenly and abruptly found herself missing them both something fierce.

"Positive, now shut it." Michael replied, seemingly looking around for something of importance with a lot of concentration in his expression.

Amity sighed to herself but decided not to pick a fight and instead did as requested while they kept moving forward.

A few minutes later and a noise of discovery came from the man beside of her, having her whipping her eyes up from her boots to look at him with confusion and surprise.

"That's the damned place I came across Rick and that Shane guy about to be torn to bits." Michael said, pointing to a building that had just appeared in the distance and Amity brightened right up upon hearing that.

"What? Really? So we're closer than we thought!" She exclaimed, bouncing a bit on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah, us cuttin' through the woods must of bought us more time than I thought." He reasoned out and the siblings continued on their way, now with a bit more energy in their step as they felt their journey finally reaching a place that it needed to be.

Their supplies were still fairly well rounded and they had done well with avoiding people and the majority of walkers roaming around, but the sooner everything was over and they were back at the prison with those they cared about, the better.

* * *

"Do you miss her?" Maggie asked the hunter, a man who had been particularly hard to deal with the past couple of days, as she stood uninvited at his side while he was leaned in under the hood of one of their up kept vehicles.

"Why are ya askin' dumb questions?" Daryl responded, not even bothering to look over at the younger woman as he dug around in the car's insides.

"I miss her." Maggie continued, acting as if Daryl had given her a pleasant and honest answer rather than sniping at her.

With a hum of acknowledgement, Daryl forced his eyes to stay trained on the piece of the engine that he was messing with rather than looking at the younger woman. Part of his mind was always with the redhead that had left them, the note she left continued to burn a hole in his pocket daily.

"I don't know if she'll come back with her research or anything else, but I know she'll come back with at least herself and that's enough." Maggie told the hunter, noting the way that he seemed dead set on avoiding her gaze so with a small pat to the side of the car he was working on, she took her leave.

It wasn't ten minutes after Maggie's footsteps had faded that another set replaced them and Daryl found himself being that much more tempted to leave and go after Amity and Michael. He didn't care how far behind them he would be, at least he'd be left the hell _alone_.

"If another damn person comes out here to tell me that Amity is gonna come back I'm goin' to fuckin'-" Daryl began his rampage with a surly growl, standing up and being careful to mind the hood above his head even as he threw his greasy towel roughly onto the engine. The only thing that had him pausing was the sight of the youngest Greene standing there with Lil Asskicker cradled in her arms.

"Just needed some company. Jude's been fussin' when I try to put her down..." She explained and Daryl considered her for a moment before nodding and turning back to the task at hand while the blonde settled down on a nearby picnic table.

A comfortable silence rested between them for a long while, the only noise being that which Daryl's hands and the engine created or the quiet babbling from Judith.

"Did you hear about the run earlier?" Beth asked eventually and Daryl grunted a sound that read "no" fairly clearly, and after a moment's pause to check and make sure that he wasn't telling her to shut it, the young woman began to explain the events of the day.

Daryl hadn't been too involved in prison life since finding that Amity had left, and though he wasn't really interested in it now, he couldn't find it in him to tell the girl to shut up and fuck off.

Beth wasn't too bad in the end and after being around Amity so long, she even kind of talked in the same way as the redhead.

It was comforting and though the man would never admit it, perhaps he appreciated the company she offered.

* * *

The faded lettering against the old metal mailbox at the end of the long driveway they were standing in front of burned into Amity's eyes.

"Greene." She read softly, glancing at her brother only when the man clapped her on the shoulder and nodded his head.

"It's now or never." Michael said and without waiting for a decision from the redhead, the man pushed past the free swinging rusty gate and began the trek down the dirt path.

"Now, now's good." Amity called after him, laughing lightly though the sound held more of her nerves than she would have liked.

They moved in silence once Amity's laughter had dissipated into the air.

Both siblings had found solace during their time at the farm, Amity in her friends who were now family, and in the comfort and safety the place had provided. Michael in the fact that it was the place where he had been reunited with his sister and where he had met Carol though it also was the place that he had almost lost Amity again.

Both Walkers were anticipating what they would find with a heavy feeling in their guts.

It was when they came around the last bend of the road and could see the main part of the farm in the distance that both of their footsteps came to a stuttered halt.

"Oh my god." Amity whispered, a hand rising to her mouth as Michael froze.

From where they were stood Amity could see the farmhouse, looking more weather worn than the last time she had seen it, but familiar all the same.

She could see a black charred mass where the barn once stood and even the old winnebago that had been Dale's and the place where Jimmy had taken his last breath parked alongside of it.

What she saw that she hadn't been expecting were the two unfamiliar cars parked almost touching the front porch of the house and the sight of three men standing in the yard looking at them with equally shocked expressions.

The farm had been abandoned, but it wasn't empty.

Others had moved in.

* * *

 **I know this is a fairly short chapter compared to my usual lengths, but I wanted to end it before I got into the real juicy bits of who or what Amity and Michael ran into now that they're back at the farm!**

 **Who do you think those guys are? Friends, potential allies, or danger to our Walker siblings?**

 **Thanks for all of the reviews as well! They are so so appreciated and I LOVE hearing feedback from you all!**

 **Until next time, lovelies!**

 **xx**


	25. Chapter 25

Without even thinking Michael's hand was gripping Amity's arm and both siblings were dropping down low, following the line of the fence until they had a semblance of cover.

As they moved, Amity could hear the men in the yard scramble and she knew that they were going for their weapons. What she didn't know was whether it was out of self-defense due to a couple of strangers wandering up or because they planned to hunt down a couple of trespassers.

"Who the fuck are you?" Amity called out, gripping her bow so tightly in her hands that they shook as she carefully peered out from around the old piece of sheet metal that was leaned against the portion of the fence that they were currently crouching behind.

"I could be askin' you the same damned question!" One of the men shouted in return, his accent letting Amity know that he was at least semi-local though it sounded more Alabamian than Georgian.

"I asked first!" Amity shot back, ignoring the look that her brother was giving to her to shut her mouth as he sat crouched with his gun held securely in his hands.

"You walked up on _our_ camp!" Another one of the men retorted, a Yankee that one was. She couldn't place the accent.

"Your camp is _our_ old home!" Amity called out and that seemed to throw the men for a loop at least for a couple of moments so Amity met Michael's eyes.

"They could be friendly and just trying to survive like we are." Amity whispered to him.

"That alone makes them dangerous, Bug. People tryin' to survive do crazy things." Michael reasoned, keeping his voice low as well.

"But it doesn't make them inherently bad people." She replied.

"They can still put a bullet between our eyes without bein' your definition of bad, Amity Lynn." The older man retorted but Amity's huff of indignation was cut short by the Alabama man speaking again.

"You lived here? This was your farm?" He asked.

"We lived here, it was owned by a friend." She called back, not having a reason to lie.

"What was the name of the people who lived here then?" The Yankee asked hotly, trying to catch them in a lie.

"Greene." Michael said, his sudden willingness to answer surprising the redhead.

"They could have read that off the mailbox, man." Amity heard the final man say to his companions in another accent she couldn't quite place- it wasn't American though.

"There's five wells on the property. You found the remains of a body in the RV, the remains of a horse on the lawn. You may have found bags left in the house, a few that had been obviously packed but never taken. I guess that depends on if anyone else came by looting before you guys." Amity listed off, trying to think of any identifying features of the home and property that would say they were telling the truth.

The men were now muttering to one another, their words too quiet to hear until finally one spoke up.

"Y'all can come on out now. We ain't gonna hurt you." The Alabama man said and Amity shot a look at Michael who shook his head.

"Now, how can we trust that?" Michael asked loudly, his deep voice echoing over the farm.

"You can't, but I'll bet you came back here for a reason and should have a damn good story to tell. We'd like to hear it." Alabama continued and with that being said, and before Michael could stop her, Amity stood up.

She would later omit that part to Daryl when she got back and he demanded a recount of the events of their trip.

She didn't need to hear how stupid of a move that was.

"It's a pretty good story." Amity admitted with a sharp smile, calculating eyes roving over the three men in the distance before she fully stepped out from their hiding place. "If you have the time."

* * *

"I need to talk to you." A voice sounded behind Daryl as he entered the eating area, already seeing eyes glance his way that were filled with curiosity and something that still surprised him, respect.

It seemed that the people from Woodbury and the more recent survivors that they had taken in were concerned for their provider's well-being when it was made public that Michael and Amity were gone, though the council had simply said they were out on a long-distance run.

The tension that Daryl carried with him now more than ever alluded to his concerns on the matter though.

"I don't got a damn thing to say to you." The hunter spit back, not even bothering to turn around until a hand was on his shoulder and he was ripping himself away like he had been stung.

"Take a fuckin' hike before I stomp your ass." Daryl growled, now facing the doctor that had tried to approach him.

Caleb looked at the fuming redneck with wide eyes, hands held up in front of him as a show of surrender though Daryl wanted nothing more than to simply break one of those hands just for seeing the wariness behind his gaze.

The damn pussy would have left Amity to die if they got in a sticky situation out there and look where the guy was now while she was gone, all thanks to him convincing her that it was something that had to be done.

He was tucked safely behind the walls of the prison, yet he still seemed to have some kind of death wish.

Made sense why him and Amity seemed to get along.

"We need to talk, Daryl." Caleb insisted and Daryl scoffed almost immediately, debating whether to walk away and keep some of his sanity intact or drop the sumbitch and make himself feel better.

"Is there a problem here?" A soft voice asked as Carol joined them, the woman looking between both men.

While Daryl didn't take his eyes off of the doctor, Caleb looked over at Carol with a forced smile.

"There's no problem, just having a conversation is all." Caleb said, attempting to cover for the bit of a scene they were making in the entrance to the large and fairly crowded room seeing as it was dinner time.

"I think that the conversation is over now." Carol said simply as a reply, her voice holding no friendliness for the other man and that surprised even Daryl for a moment. "I think you've done enough, Doctor."

Blinking as if he had just been slapped, Dr. S took a moment to compose himself before he seemed to decide it was best to take Carol's advice and move on from the attempted conversation.

Watching as he turned and walked out, Daryl shook his head.

"I had it." He told his friend who shrugged slender shoulders in response.

"I needed a reason," was all Carol said before laying a hand lightly on Daryl's bicep for a brief moment then heading back to where the food was being served.

A couple of voices called out his name over the regular noise of dinner conversation as everything picked back up, and Daryl found himself looking around to spot Rick at a table with his son, Maggie, Glenn, Beth, Zach, and Hershel.

"Come sit with us." Beth insisted and after casting a glance around in an attempt to see if his brother was around, Daryl could find no reason not to.

He crossed the room in a few measured strides and took a seat on the other side of Carl that Rick didn't occupy, tapping the front rim of his hat down over his eyes as Amity usually did in order to bug the kid.

"I want to punch his lights out too." Maggie said, meeting Daryl's eyes to let him know that she was on his side when it came to the doctor.

It was obvious that the younger woman wasn't happy about her friend being away and it was then that Daryl realized he had underestimated everyone else's loyalty to Amity.

She was Maggie's best friend, Beth's mentor, she had gone through Woodbury with Glenn, always joked around with Carl, helped Rick through Lori's death, was the first of them to speak to Zach- the woman had an impact on all of them and they were united in hating the fact that she wasn't amongst them.

Daryl nodded at Maggie in response, a kinder gesture than he had offered over the past couple of days and a smile tugged at the brunette's lips as she returned it.

* * *

"So let me get this straight-" Alabama man, who Amity and Michael now knew to be Jake, said as he leaned against the tailgate of the truck that Amity was perched on, her brother standing at her side. "-you two rode horses out of here with biters crawling all over the place?"

"It made sense at the time." Michael said.

"No, it didn't." Amity interjected, shaking her head and pulling a laugh out of two of the three men.

As it seemed, Amity was right when she said that there was a chance the trio was simply doing as they were- trying to survive.

After coming out from hiding, the five of them met on the driveway and it took a fair amount of sizing one another up before they came to be sat where they were now.

"Plus, I didn't ride a horse out. I rode a motorcycle." Amity added, and that captured their attention once more.

"How'd that happen?" The Yankee, Tim, asked as he obviously tried not to seem too eager to get the details.

"Well, I saw Andrea, another member of our group, surrounded and went to help while Michael went after his woman." She explained, her smile only shifting from teasing to gentle when she caught a flash of guilt behind her brother's eyes. "It was because I told him to and she needed more help than me." She added. "But anyways, I went to help Andrea and the poor horse got taken out from under me. I fell and rolled, put a shot between the poor baby's eyes before rising and trying to find her but she was already off somewhere so I made a run for it while the walkers were distracted. I had just made it to the fence when one grabbed me. I wouldn't be here if a bullet didn't tear through it then."

"You would've." Michael insisted.

"You just don't want Daryl to be responsible for saving my life." Amity shot back at her brother with a laugh.

"Daryl?" Jake asked, searching for clarification.

"The guy who saved me. He came back on his motorcycle for me, circled around and shot the walker that had me so I could run and get on the back." She recounted.

"Damn good friend to have if he came back to a herd like that." Tim noted.

"He's the loyal type." Amity replied with a fond smile on her lips.

"Helps that he's sweet on her." Michael added and Amity rolled her eyes.

"So you two are an item then? Where's he at now?" Jake said, obviously confused about why the couple would be separated.

"I guess so." Amity answered, avoiding the second question by hopping off of the back of the truck.

"So if this place was overrun the last time you were here, why in the hell would you come back?" Tim asked, voice gruff.

"Now _that_ is something that you guys can help us with." Amity replied with a smile.

* * *

"It's been four days." Carl told his dad as he pushed the blade of the shovel he held into the soft dirt with the sole of his boot.

"I know, Carl." Rick said, a sigh in his voice even though he wasn't sighing.

"It should have only taken four days, right?" Carl asked and Rick shook his head.

"With the car it would have, but her and Michael went on foot at least most of the way. Michonne said she saw their trail while out there and none of the abandoned cars around the area have moved." Rick reasoned, trying to soothe his son's worries the best he could.

"So when should they be back?" Carl asked almost immediately.

Pulling off the hat that covered his head, Rick wiped the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt as he thought over the question.

"Eight days, maybe ten. Depends on how fast they move and if they get held up anywhere." He answered honestly, receiving a nod from his son in return.

Rick waited a long moment for Carl to say something more, but as the boy focused all of his attention on his work, Rick realized that maybe there was nothing more to be said.

He just hoped his numbers were right and that they'd be seeing the redhead and her rancher brother again soon.

* * *

"It was a dark red bag." Amity explained, looking up at the house that she hadn't stepped foot inside in so long.

She remembered Lori, Andrea, and her fighting in the kitchen. She remembered trying to break down Beth's door and the first night Carl was brought to the house. She remembered Daryl laid up after Andrea shot him and her face being sewn up in the kitchen after Shane's explosion at the barn. She remembered T-Dog sitting at the table with Glenn talking about Merle's STD meds while blushing under Maggie's gaze.

So much time was held within the walls of that house and she couldn't find it in her to take another step up the stairs of the porch.

"There was a few bags in there when we got here, nothing useful inside." The third man said, speaking up for the first time in a while and Amity was finally able to place his accent as perhaps either Australian or Kiwi (New Zealand).

"No notebooks or papers?" Amity questioned, not understanding why anyone would take her notebook as most of her notes wouldn't be able to be understood by anyone outside of the scientific field, specifically the biological or psychological.

"No." The man said flatly and the redhead found herself turning to look at him, blue eyes narrowing as she scanned his face.

"Nothing at all that looked like it had been written on?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to look for myself." Amity said, her words a bit sharp and before she could take another step, the man was reaching out for her arm and Michael was moving towards them with noise of warning.

"Whoa- hey. It's been a long day full of excitement, right? Everyone's on edge, but that's no reason to be rude. James didn't mean nothin' by it, did you James?" Jake cut in, apparently seeing the impending fight and wanting to put a stop to it before it happened.

"Not a thing." James replied, his voice holding no semblance of an apology.

"The sun's settin' though, and I know you two have to be tired after traveling here from wherever. Y'all can get some shut eye in the living room if you want- everything's been emptied out of the first floor but the couches are still there." Jake reasoned.

"And the bags that were left?" Michael asked, deep voice now holding a fair amount of suspicion.

"We've been movin' things around quite a bit, but I'm sure we can find whatever was left tomorrow." Jake reassured the older man, offering a friendly smile that Amity was now hesitant to buy with his company looking at her with such blank eyes.

The siblings exchanged a quick look, their suspicions being confirmed in one another's eyes- something wasn't right.

All the same, the woman felt that there wasn't much choice in the situation, so Amity nodded her head and reached out for her brother, wrapping an arm around his bicep.

"You're right, there's always tomorrow." Amity said, voice sweeter than it had been since they came across the strangers.

She felt that perhaps it was too late to play the ruse of innocent and helpless, after all, she had screamed out asking who the fuck they were while wielding a compound bow like it was an extension of herself, but it couldn't hurt to try.

She needed all the cards in her hand that she could at this point, that much she knew as she looked into James' eyes and saw nothing behind their hazel hue.

"Not anymore there isn't." James said, the tone of his voice sending shivers down Amity's spine.

* * *

The night was quiet at the prison.

Darkness had fallen like a veil over the grounds, the only light being from the moon in the sky as Daryl leaned against the railing of the guard tower.

The hunter had volunteered for watch that night, his empty cell being harder to face than he would ever admit.

His brother was stood leaning against the wall of the tower behind him, humming to himself as both Dixons' blue eyes scanned the tree line.

"You think Red's still kickin'?" Merle asked, his raspy voice grating against Daryl's eardrums as there was nothing the man wished for more in that moment than _silence_.

"Take a damn army to kill her." Daryl reasoned, his words confident though his mind wasn't.

For all he knew, she could already be walker chow and he'd be none the wiser to the fact that he'd never see her again.

That wasn't what he believed though. The woman was still alive, he could feel it as plain as he could feel the night breeze against his bare arms.

For some reason the man was sure that if she died, even hundreds of miles away from him, he would know.

The world would stop turning the right way, the sun would fade from the sky- something would happen and he would know.

"People die dumb- can't believe you let her walk her happy ass outta here." Merle said, his voice holding obvious annoyance which had Daryl turning and looking at him with a mix of anger and disbelief.

"I didn't _let_ her do anythin', man. She just left!" He snapped and Merle scoffed in return.

"Guess I can't kick your ass over somethin' I didn't do either. Both of us should of lit out of here after her day one." Merle reasoned and Daryl shook his head.

"She didn't want that." He said, voice quiet.

"Do I look like someone who gives a damn what that red-haired fuckin' pain in my ass _wants_? I care about keepin' her breathin' and here you are carin' about her _feelings_." Merle countered gruffly. "You a damn Dixon or not, boy?" He asked.

Shaking his head at the way his brother seemed to be dead-set on riling him up that evening, Daryl turned back to the trees without another word.

Sometimes, when it came to dealing with Merle, it was best to just not to.

* * *

That night was spent with the Walker siblings dozing off in shifts.

Neither of the two particularly trusted the three men who had been on the farm when they arrived, especially not James, and they weren't willing to truly risk their necks to keep up appearances, but they did need to rest.

It was now Amity's shift, the redhead perched in an arm chair by the window as she took turns moving her eyes between the farmland outside and the darkened inside of the house.

It wasn't an interesting time, but Amity reasoned it was better that it wasn't. Excitement meant trouble.

Almost as if she had cursed herself simply by thinking as much, Amity heard the wooden floor above the living room shift as a small whimper sounded through the silence of the night.

The noise had the woman perking up almost immediately, her eyes sharp and curious as the sound wasn't one that any of the four men (when including her brother) should be able to make.

The issue was, Amity hadn't seen anyone else and their three new acquaintances had claimed to be the only ones on the farm.

Rising from her seat, Amity picked up her machete from the floor by her feet before she stalked silently towards the hallway.

While Amity had been mentoring Beth to fight, Daryl had taken his time with teaching the woman the arts of moving silently and tracking- not to mention most recently, the crossbow.

Only one of those talents were coming in handy in that moment.

Scanning the empty hall, Amity spared a glance back to her brother who was asleep on the couch before she continued on the familiar path to the stairs. Up them was the room that Daryl had stayed in after being shot, up them was the shower she had used to scrub away Walker blood from her skin when she thought that she couldn't fall any deeper into this hellish world than she had at that point.

What a joke that was.

Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, Amity looked up the darkened flight and stood stark still as she listened.

Again a small noise sounded, the tone high-pitched and that was what pushed the woman to place her boot on the first step.

As the sole touched the worn wood, a sharp pain exploded in the back of Amity's head and she found herself pitching forward, a cry escaping her lips before darkness covered her vision and the last thing she heard was her brother's voice yelling her name from what sounded like miles away.

* * *

Grogginess was what greeted Amity when the woman finally blinked open her eyes to be greeted with bright sunlight streaming in through a nearby window.

Squinting against the light, Amity's head spun as she tried to orient herself to her surroundings.

First, she noticed the wood under her legs and found that she was sitting on the floor of one of the second floor rooms of the farmhouse. Second, she finally comprehended the fact that it must be daytime for the sun to be shining through the window.

Before she could get any further, she heard her name from the other side of the room and looked over to see Michael sat with his back against one of the old metal radiators in the house.

"Michael-" Amity began, shifting to move towards him before finding that her hands were bound tightly behind her back. "Mikey, what's going on?" She asked.

Heavy footsteps sounded from outside of the door as he brother spoke up.

"Hey, Bug, it's okay. We're going to be alright." Michael said quickly, his words of reassurance not doing much to calm her as he didn't answer her question which was a big warning flag.

"You're right, mate. It will be as long as the both of you don't do anything stupid." James said as he entered, the heavy steps apparently having belonged to him as he stepped inside the room.

"Stupid? You mean like knocking the hell out of someone who was initially planning on letting you live?" Amity wondered, her words seeming clumsy on her lips as her head was still swimming.

"Sorry, Princess. It was more of a insurance policy than anythin' else. No hard feelings?" Jake said as he entered the room as well, her machete on his hip and as he met her eyes, Amity mustered up the best glare that she could.

"I don't get what's goin' on. We didn't do anythin'. Just- just untie us and we'll be on our way. No harm, no foul." Michael chimed in, his deep voice calm which was in stark contrast with the fire behind his blue eyes.

"Do we look stupid to you, Cowboy?" James wondered, scoffing at Michael's words and sparing him an annoyed glance before returning his eyes to Amity.

"No, we're not letting you two go. Sunshine here has something we need." James continued, tilting his head as he looked at the redhead, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Touch her and I swear to God I'll kill you." Michael growled, his words holding nothing but promise as Amity simply returned James' stare, trying to get a read on him.

"We won't. Well, not as long as she cooperates." Jake said, cutting off anything that James was about to.

"What could I possibly have that you need?" Amity asked, voice cold as ice. "You've tied us up, taken our bags, our weapons, surely all of our supplies. What else could I give you?"

Jake and James exchanged a look before James nodded and the other man left the room for a brief moment.

Silence hung over the space like a wet blanket, suffocating and heavy while Amity felt like she couldn't get a lungful of air.

"Deep breaths, Bug. We're gonna be fine." Michael said softly to her, sensing her impending panic as she couldn't help but strain against the ropes under the blankness of James eyes on her.

She was going to die there because of her decision to leave the prison in search of a few papers.

Worst than that, she had dragged her brother along to die too.

Amity was going to fight the three men who had taken them captive every step of the way- she had to- for Daryl, for Michael and Maggie and Rick, but in the back of her mind was the hope that she would die first out of the two of them.

She knew that even living with herself for a second after her brother's death would destroy her.

It was nearly a relief when Jake reentered the room, a familiar bag hanging from his hands as he dug into it and pulled out a familiar notepad stuffed with her writings and the brain scans that she had risked all of this for.

The sight of it pushed all of her heavier thoughts away, her eyes narrowing in on the notebook and she could see the satisfaction and pleasure behind their captor's faces when she did so, apparently revealing that it was, in fact, her's.

"You can give us a doctor." Jake said simply.


	26. Chapter 26

Amity's eyes widened as she looked between the two men standing in front of her, her heart pounding in her chest as she realized that there was definitely more going on with the trio than they had originally thought.

"I'm not that kind of doctor." Amity told them, already fearing their reaction to that piece of information.

There was no point in lying to them over it though, that much she knew. Whatever they needed a doctor for, she wasn't going to be able to do what they asked more than likely and her lie would have been uncovered one way or another.

"The front of the notebook says Doctor Amity Walker." Jake said, flipping to the front of her notebook as if that proved something.

"You're right, it does- that's because I have my Ph.D., not my M.D.." She explained, pausing before explaining further as she could see that meant little to them. "I'm a _psychologist_ \- a clinical neuropsychologist. I'm not a medical doctor."

James and Jake exchanged a look, seemingly considering what she said.

"It's better than nothing." Jake muttered and Amity felt herself about to protest that fact before she bit her tongue. Maybe if she tried to help, maybe if she bought her brother some time, he could get away and get back to the prison and safety.

"You need to clue me in here." Amity announced to the room, pulling the attention of the bickering men. "If I don't know what's going on, or what happened, then I definitely can't help you."

A beat of silence hung in the room at her words.

"Get her up." James commanded and immediately Jake moved forward to do as he requested, gripping the woman's arm to pull her to her feet and the redhead had to swallow down bile that rose in her throat at the parallel of the action from the last time she had been captive.

Though that time it was Martinez tugging her to her feet and her hands had been free though she was topless.

It wasn't a memory that she liked bubbling forth to say the least.

"Wait- wait, let her go!" Michael yelled out, his deep voice a booming presence in the small room as he began to panic over the fact that Amity was going to be out of his sight.

"Mikey, it's okay. It's alright." Amity told the man, pulling against Jake's hold and leaning to peer around James as the two men were now trying to usher her out of the room. "I'll be okay, just sing a carol or something and I'll be back before you know it."

Meeting eyes identical to her's, Amity nodded her head once in confirmation as realization dawned behind the older man's eyes. He caught onto her hint quickly and shook his head, but her nod had him pausing.

She wanted him to leave, to escape and get back to the prison, and she just hoped that him falling quiet meant he was going to do just that as soon he disappeared from her sight and she was being bustled down the familiar upstairs hall.

As the trio paused in front of a doorway, Amity couldn't help but snort lightly at the fact the room being used was the same one that Daryl had been kept in while recovering from being grazed by Andrea's bullet.

"Something funny?" James half snarled and Amity simply cast her steely blues his way, not letting herself be intimidated by the man.

"A lot of memories are held in this place." She said in explanation, and the man seemed to accept that as a moment later he was pushing open the bedroom door and dragging Amity inside.

The redhead's footsteps faltered and would have stopped if not for Jake being behind her as she spotted a woman laying in the bed where Daryl once had.

Her calculating eyes took in the pallor of her skin, the way her stringy hair stuck to her damp forehead, and the sickly hue that her entire figure radiated.

She looked beyond a certified medical professional's help, and certainly beyond Amity's.

"What's her name?" She wondered, voice quiet as if she was afraid of disturbing the woman.

"None of your business." James spat, now reaching to roughly grasp Amity's forearm and yank her closer to the bed.

Letting out a hiss of pain, Amity struggled against his rough hold that she knew was sure to leave a bruise before remembering that she was wanting to play along and keep the men as occupied as possible so that Michael could make a break for it.

"Help her." James demanded and Amity turned her attention from the woman in the bed to the man still gripping her arm, her gaze holding nothing but measured patience.

"I can't help her if I don't know what's wrong, James." She said simply and the volatile man's grip loosened slightly as he considered that.

Without a word, he suddenly released her and turned to the bed, one hand ghosting over the cheek of the woman there in a way that told Amity all she needed to know about his feelings towards her and for a moment, she forgot the fact that he had knocked her out and tied her up. She couldn't imagine being in the situation that he was- worrying over someone that you cared so dearly for.

She couldn't stand to picture Daryl or even Michael laying in the bed looking as the woman did.

James took the top of the covers in his hands with a gentleness that Amity couldn't imagine from him, folding them back so methodically as if he feared any wrong movement would end the life of the woman laying underneath them.

As he did, Amity caught sight of the bandage that was wrapped around the waist of the woman. It looked fairly clean, or would have been when it was first put on, but now the cloth was soaked through with dark red blood.

If her hands were free, Amity knew that they would be hovering at her mouth as she considered the sight in front of her, her hopes falling for her own survival as she realized that there may be nothing she could do for the woman on the bed and she didn't think that that was something James would accept very well.

She knew she wouldn't if it was someone she loved.

"Was she bit?" Amity asked, voice quiet but the soft respectful air in the room was broken as she suddenly found herself stumbling backwards, her head snapping forward at the abruptness of the shove James knocked against her. If it hadn't been for Jake's steadying hands suddenly appearing on her, the woman had no doubt she'd be on the ground.

"She wasn't bit!" James snarled and Amity wondered if the man was like this before the psychologically damaging stress that came with the turn.

"I had to make sure, James." Amity said, barely holding on to her temper that threatened to flare up at being treated like an object to take out the man's pain on.

She wanted to help, but she didn't know how long she could bite her tongue and keep her head.

"She was stabbed." Jake explained from behind her, actually trying to be helpful unlike his companion who seemed to want Amity to snap her fingers and for a miracle to occur in response.

"By what?" Amity replied almost immediately.

"A knife- what do you think?" James snapped.

"How big of a knife?" Amity retorted, her tone sharp as she never appreciated someone acting like she was stupid. "Actually, untie me and move over. I need to see the wound."

Her demand was met with silence and Amity nearly screamed at that fact.

"Do you want me to try to help her or not?" She asked the pair. "I can't do anything without my hands."

Jake was the first to move forward, a knife being pulled from his back as he sawed through the thick ropes binding her hands and Amity rubbed her wrists once they were freed, trying to work some blood back into them.

Now free, the redhead felt a bit more in control of the situation and moved forward, brushing past James without a care until she was directly next to the bed. She hesitated only to look at the face of the woman whose name she didn't even know before gentle fingers were searching for the beginning of the bandage.

Slowly, Amity unwrapped the bandage to expose the wound to the air and light and it was something that had her stomach churning.

It was a grisly sight, the stab jagged and looked to be fairly deep. The color around it was bright and the skin carried a sheen due to being pulled so tight by swelling. Immediately, the psychologist noted the sharply colored veins that led away from the wound.

"It's infected." She announced, ignoring James' looming presence as the man began to pace the room like a caged animal.

"I need a clean bandage, hot water, alcohol or disinfectant, and any medication that you can find." She continued, listing off items that Jake repeated back to her almost immediately.

"Will that save her?" James asked, his voice carrying something behind it that had Amity's breath shortening in fear.

"It's the only chance we've got." She replied, not wanting to lie.

* * *

"Day five." Beth told her sister as she sat down on the edge of the older woman's bed, watching the brunette on the floor as she pieced together her latest project.

"I didn't ask for a timekeeper, Beth." Maggie said, sighing as she looked over at the blonde with obvious pain and worry behind her eyes. Almost immediately, Beth felt guilty for bringing it up. She should have known that her sister wasn't handling Amity and Michael's absence any better than she was.

"I know, I just thought that she would be back by now." Beth said, her voice going quiet in a way that had Maggie shifting where she sat so that she could reach out, clasping the younger Greene's knee lightly and offering her a small smile of reassurance.

"We all did, sweetie. She's going to be back soon enough- her and Michael both. Then we'll get to see Rick and Daryl hand her her ass." Maggie joked, trying to lighten the situation the best she could and Beth was thankful for that.

"Come on down here and help me out, would ya?" Maggie requested as she sat back, moving over so that Beth could join her on the floor.

Blue eyes looked over the items sat in front of her once Beth had done as asked, and the young woman considered the materials.

"So this is what you and Glenn have been up to with the camera." She said, understanding coloring her voice as she looked over the large piece of wood that had been painted and the polaroids that surrounded it.

"We wanted to make something to hold the memories, you know? People come and go- and it's just gettin' to easy to forget sometimes." Maggie explained, and Beth nodded, automatically thinking that her sister's idea was an amazing one.

"I don't want to forget." Beth admitted and Maggie reached out for her sister, draping an arm around the younger woman's slender shoulders as she tucked her against her side, resting her cheek on the top of her blonde locks.

"You won't, Bethy. We won't forget anyone." Maggie promised, leaning them both forward so that she could snag one of the polaroids that held the entirety of the Greene family plus Glenn within the white border.

Without another word, Maggie put the photo near the center of the wooden slab, reaching for a small nail and releasing Beth so that she could softly knock the nail into place to secure the picture.

The two women looked at the singular picture in silence, neither of them speaking as there was nothing more that needed to be said.

They weren't going to forget.

* * *

"So, you their watchdog or somethin'?" Michael questioned the man standing in the room with him.

Logically, the man knew that taunting his captor wasn't a good idea, no matter how terrible he assumed the Yankee's hook would be. The anxiety that swelled within the former ranch hand without his sister at his side was pushing his patience though.

He had read what Amity wanted from him as soon as the woman hinted at it by dropping Carol's name so causally into a sentence that the man nearly had to reconsider what she was saying. He understood her plain as day, but he'd be damned if he followed through with what she wanted.

If he was going to get out of there, then she was going to be with him.

That was that.

"The world ends and you don't even get to be one of the big dogs." Michael continued, carrying on his metaphor for the man's position within the trio of men.

"Do you know how to shut the fuck up?" Tim wondered, his question holding a fair amount of sarcasm which had the Southern man grinning.

"Naw, I don't reckon I do." Michael quipped back in reply, readjusting how he was sat in oder to more discretely continue with the way he was trying to loosen the ropes around his wrists.

"Learn fast, Cowboy or I'll remedy it for you." Tim snapped, obviously not appreciating the smartass answer.

"You allowed to do that? Touch the goods I mean- I just reckoned that was outta your pay grade or somethin'." Michael said, an amused smirk passing over his lips as he watched the other man get worked up over what he had said.

"If Little Red fucks up in there, I'm going to be the one to kill you." Tim told him, his words spoken with a callousness that surprised the eldest Walker and he reevaluated his strategy.

Quickly, the man was realizing that everything both himself and Amity had gathered about the three men in the short time they talked had been an act. Almost nothing that they thought they knew about who they were dealing with was the truth and suddenly, he realized how carefully they needed to tread.

This wasn't the old world anymore where you could piss someone off and expect them to hit you at the worst, but usually not due to the fear of retaliation whether physically or legally.

This was a new world with a new set of rules.

Tim could kill him for pissing him off without any repercussions.

He could leave him dead in that small bedroom with no one knowing what happened to him until the memory of who he was faded from the minds of everyone who had known him, and then from the world altogether.

There would be no retribution, no legal case that defended his death.

There would be nothing but death.

"Where did they take my sister?" Michael asked, his voice hard as he met Tim's eyes and the man simply smiled.

* * *

Cleaning and rebinding the wound was the best that Amity could hope to do at the time.

Securing the clean bandage into place, the redhead took a deep breath in through her nose before releasing it slowly and turning to the two men who were hovering at the door to the room.

"She needs medicine." Amity told them, cutting right to the chase.

"We brought you medicine." Jake replied and Amity shook her head.

"No, you brought me a couple of pain killers and some antacids." She informed him. "That's not enough, not for this. Her wound is infected and while keeping it clean will help, if we don't get some real antibiotics in her soon she's going to die from the infection without a doubt."

This was not what James wanted to hear, and that was something that Amity had assumed. Without hesitation, Amity squared up to the man who had rushed her, his desperation apparently about to be released onto her, but her actions had him momentarily confused.

It bought her just enough time to have Jake intervening, the man pushing his way between the pair to keep the peace.

"James, hallway." Jake insisted and the other man fought against him for only a moment before allowing himself to be pushed away.

"Stay here. If you try to go out that window, we'll shoot your brother in the head." Jake told her, the statement said so nonchalantly that it took Amity aback for a moment but then the men were gone.

She sucked in another deep breath, seeking to steady herself as she tried to listen in on the hushed conversation that was happening in the hallway.

After a few moments of hearing nothing more than the tones of their voices, Amity gave up on eavesdropping and instead moved to sit in the chair next to the woman's bed.

The singular window in the room, one that had been covered with a fairly sheer blanket, was the only indicator of the time of day and Amity realized that literal hours had passed since she was led from the room with her brother as the sun seemed to be beginning to set.

Amity was scared for Michael, terrified that the older man would be hurt because of her stupid risk that she took with coming back to the farm. She knew that he hadn't escaped yet due to the confident threat that Jake had leveled at her, but she held hope that he would soon.

Her mind raced as she leaned back in the chair, her eyes closing as she fought against the exhaustion that seeped into her body, but soon enough she gave in and her head lolled onto one shoulder, her mind finding a moment's peace.

* * *

"Walkers are piling up again." Carol informed Daryl as she took a seat next to him, her feet dangling over the side of the catwalk as she did so.

It was only a moment later once she was settled that she handed a bowl over to him with an insistent shake, the hunter nearly sighing as he gave into the persistent woman's demands and took the bowl.

Once the dish was in his hand, it didn't take much convincing for the man to begin shoveling the food into his mouth with barely another thought. He hadn't been avoiding eating on purpose, rather he had been avoiding the interaction that often came with getting the food.

He didn't want to hear anyone else talk about the trivial things around the prison, but he also didn't want anyone else to tell him that Amity would be coming back, or to so obviously skirt around the subject that it made the man feel like people saw him as something so easily broken.

He grunted a response back to the woman at his side and she actually did sigh as he did so.

"It's going to keep getting worse and worse with the more people we bring in." Carol noted and Daryl shrugged.

The man was a firm believer in the fact that people made the place they were. The more people that they could bring in that were useful and trust-worthy, the safer the prison would be for them all.

There was power in numbers, that much he believed.

"We'll keep poppin' 'em through the fence, ain't that big of a deal." Daryl replied, but Carol shook her head.

"Temporary fix. A bandaid on a bullet wound." She insisted.

"You come to talk about walkers?" Daryl questioned suddenly, catching his friend's true intentions and Carol looked over at him with a pressed smile, worry reading behind it as plain as day to the observant hunter.

"I guess in a way." Carol joked, her tone holding little humor though it was obvious she tried. "I miss him, Daryl. I miss them both." She admitted, sounding hesitant to do so.

A short pause followed her words before Daryl was nodding, knowing that the woman didn't like to seem reliant on Michael and he had no doubts that she wasn't, but it was something different to just want someone around.

"I miss 'em too." He said softly, admitting where his mind always was though everyone else had already guessed as much.

It had been six days at that point and it took everything in Daryl to stay put, something that he knew neither him nor his brother would be able to do for too much longer.

Merle was getting more aggressive about it every day. Amity's loyalty to him during the Governor issue meant more to the eldest Dixon than anyone besides his brother would ever know and he was chomping at the bit to return the favor.

It was only Daryl keeping the older man at the prison, and with every day that passed, Daryl began to question why he was doing so more and more.

"Bring that bowl in when you're finished." Carol told him, patting his arm gently before giving it a soft squeeze and scooting back on the catwalk so that she could rise to her feet.

Apparently she had said all she had needed to say, or perhaps she just needed the company of someone who was in the same situation as herself.

Daryl didn't dwell on the reason that the woman joined him, instead he took another bite of his meal and watched the distant tree line for a mess of red hair that wasn't going to appear.

* * *

"Wake up." A voice snapped from in front of Amity and the woman immediately jerked awake, whether that was due to the statement or the simple proximity of the voice was unclear, but Tim was at least smart enough to have hopped back a step and out of the path of the woman's immediate swiping hands.

"You're supposed to be looking after her." Tim said simply once the redhead had calmed down and Amity nearly went to hit him again.

"I've been looking after her. She's not waking up anytime soon." Amity shot back and at that, the other man frowned.

"That's not something you should be too happy about." Tim told her and the redhead looked at him with confusion.

"I'm obviously not happy about it, that would be terrible. It's just the truth of the matter." Amity reiterated but Tim didn't look the least bit happier with her clarification.

"That truth needs to change and it needs to change fast." The man snapped and Amity found herself growing more and more exasperated with the trio that they had stumbled across.

Did they think that she was some sort of mythical creature who could simply touch the woman and heal her simply because she had a piece of paper at one point that gave her the right to call herself _Doctor_ Amity Walker rather than Miss?

It was getting ridiculous.

"The only chance she's got is you people finding her some _actual_ medicine- antibiotics that could potentially keep the infection from spreading any further and doing more damage than it already has! I don't even want to think about the potential injuries to her internal organs- she's gone septic at this point!" Amity retorted, her voice raising as she tried to get her point through the thick skull that the man seemed to share with his companions.

"Now _get the fuck out,_ you're disturbing my patient! A patient who, might I remind you, was thrust upon me though I have a fucking _Ph.D._! Do you know what Ph.D. stands for, Tim? DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY!" She all but screeched, her temper boiling over at that point and the man in front of her was looking at her as if she had actually lost her mind.

Maybe she had.

Tim seemed to consider the redheaded doctor for a long moment after her rampage had left her glaring at him, fire in her gaze as she heaved in deep breaths of air. He studied her face, seemed to weigh his options, but then he simply smirked softly and shook his head.

"Not worth it. She'll be dead soon enough and you'll be following." He said simply, glancing between the woman in the bed and Amity. His words sent a dark shiver down Amity's spine as his eyes told her that he believed every word of what he was saying.

Without another sound passing between them, the man left the room and Amity felt the sudden silence pressing in on her.

She took a moment, her hands raising to her eyes as she took one last glance at the quickly fading woman on the bed before covering them. Her fingers trembled against her eyelids and she couldn't stop the few tears of pure frustration and fear that leaked from her eyes as much as she tried to stop them.

"Get it together, Walker." She hissed at herself. "You can't do this right now. You have to get it together- you promised. In the note, you promised."

Sucking in a deep breath of air, Amity straightened back up and roughly wiped away any trace of wetness from her cheeks. She looked over at the bed and at her impromptu patient, a sick feeling lodging itself in her stomach as she did so.

"I'm not a miracle worker." She announced quietly to the space, and it was then that she realized if she couldn't save the woman, it was high time for her to start thinking up a plan B.

* * *

"I need to see my sister."

"What part of no is not clear enough for you, man?" Jake asked, finally getting fed up with answering the same question that Michael had asked him over and over since his shift of watching the man had started.

"The part where I don't get to see my sister after hearing her yelling like a mad woman." Michael shot back, his strained voice alluding to the distress he was feeling.

"No can do there, Michael. Sorry 'bout it, but have some faith, if she takes care of who she's supposed to take care of, then you'll be seeing her soon enough." Jake reasoned.

"And if she doesn't? If whoever it is doesn't get better?" Michael asked and there was a beat of silence that was too long to be reassuring to the former ranch hand.

"If not, then not only is she no longer needed, but she failed." Jake said simply.

"You'll kill her." Michael stated, catching on as he fought against the urge to attempt to simply tear his already bloodied and raw wrists from his bonds and rip the man in front of him to pieces.

"Not me- James." Jake clarified.

"You think that makes you a better man? Standin' to the side while an innocent person is killed for not bein' able to fix y'all's mistakes?" Michael snarled.

"Never said that, just lettin' you know who would do it. If she can't save who she's gotta, James ain't gonna be in his right mind." Jake said.

"Don't tell me that _this_ is his right mind?" Michael scoffed, moving his bound arms pointedly.

"Not exactly, but he's not all gone yet." Jake explained and the eldest Walker fell silent, his mind simply trying to wrap itself around how they had ended up in this situation so quickly.

He knew better than to trust these sons of bitches and yet he had let Amity walk right out to them.

He had come along on the damned trip to keep her safe and from stumbling into situations like this one. He had been scared out of his mind that if he let her out of his sight after finding her under nearly impossible circumstances, then he would never see her again. He had feared that she'd be taken from him again.

He'd be damned if he let anything happen to her while he was around.

Without being too obvious about the strain, Michael fought against the bonds on his wrists once more, ignoring the way the rope bit into his already bloodied skin.

* * *

Gentle hands smoothed down the new clean bandage that Amity had arranged across the woman's wound as she took the time to redress the area, hoping that keeping it as clean as possible would slow the infection.

She knew in her gut that it was all pointless though.

Without the antibiotics they needed, there was little hope for the woman pulling through.

Carefully, Amity grabbed the edge of the blanket that had been used to cover the woman up and draped it over her torso as if moving too quickly was bound to send the woman more quickly to her death, with Amity following suit, than she already was.

Letting out a breath of air, the redhead moved to step away from the bed when suddenly her temporary patient's body tensed, her back arching as she seized.

In a panic, Amity's hands hovered uselessly over the woman's form before her mind finally caught up to her and she realized what was happening.

"I need some help in here!" She yelled and almost immediately, she heard heavy footsteps racing up the stairs before the door was slammed open, rebounding off the wall with a loud bang.

"What's happening?" James asked as he entered, voice tight with panic and Amity felt her breath catch in her throat, the threat that James carried with him in that moment being enough to completely throw her mind off.

"What's happening!?" James roared, moving forward and grabbing Amity's jaw without hesitation, squeezing hard enough that she swore she heard her jawbone grind as her hands clawed at his wrists.

"James!" Jake's voice snapped from the doorway, the other man apparently having rushed over at the ruckus just in time to witness his friend going off the deep end.

The grip on her face only loosened slightly at the sound of his name, but it was enough so that now Amity could actually answer the question being directed her way.

"She's septic, that infection has gotten too bad. Her organs are failing." She said, her voice sharp and clinical as she relayed the truth.

There was no point in lying, lying wouldn't end with her life being spared when the woman still died in the moments after the lie.

Again, this was apparently not what James wanted to hear. Catching on to his patterns of behavior, the woman braced herself but as she was still sent stumbling back against the hard wood floor, she wondered if perhaps she should have tried harder to think up some story.

She took Jake's proffered hand to use to pull herself back to her feet, ignoring the way that her butt ached from her fall, and instead focused on the situation at hand.

Even with the anger and fear that coursed through her, Amity's heart still clenched painfully in her chest at the sight of James knelt beside the bed, his hands gripping one of the woman's as he begged her in rough whispers to hold on.

She put herself in his situation and wondered if she would have done the same- would she have held a pair of strangers hostage in an attempt to save Daryl's life?

She couldn't fully convince herself that she wouldn't.

"I'm sorry." Amity said softly, looking at Jake who was still next to her before returning her eyes to James, his shoulders now trembling under the weight of his grief and that was when she realized that the seizing woman's body had completely stilled.

There was no doubt in her mind that she had left them.

It was a long moment of silence and Amity debated on whether or not she should have silently convinced Jake to at least move them to another room to allow the man time to grieve his loved one, but she didn't have a chance to even suggest such a thing before James was straightening and his wild eyes fixated on her.

"You were supposed to save her!" He snarled, his broken voice just adding to the instability he was presenting.

"There was nothing I could do without the medicine she needed." Amity said, keeping her voice soothing and even as if she was trying to talk down a panicked animal.

"You should have tried harder!" James snapped, taking out the torrential emotions that he must have been feeling on Amity. He needed somewhere to place his pain and rage and he had decided on her.

"I did everything that I could." The redhead insisted, but James manically shook his head, his movements twitchy.

"She's gone. She's gone." He chanted softly to himself, eyes pressed shut as he seemed to fight with himself and Amity found herself moving closer to Jake. The man was an accomplice in holding both her and Michael hostage, but it seemed he was the only other person in the room who had a chance of calming down the danger in front of her.

"She's gone, you're gone." James snapped, his tone changing from desperate to enraged in the blink of an eye and it took even less time for him to have Amity wrapped in his arms. The woman struggled against his hold, crouching low in an attempt to toss the man over her shoulder like she had taught Beth, but the coolness of metal being pressed to her temple had her freezing.

"Walk." James' voice snarled in her ear and Amity shuddered in his arms, her blood running cold at the realization that this was it. She wouldn't go down easy, but she only had so many options, the first being to whether or not to listen and walk forward so she took a step.

She was confused as she made her way into the upstairs hallway of the house, blue eyes darting desperately to the room that she had last seen her brother in as Jake went to it, apparently sent to collect the other Walker at that point.

"Leave him alone!" Amity yelled back towards the room, hearing Michael's voice raise desperately in response to his sister's.

It took a sharp tap of the barrel of the gun against her temple to have her pressing her lips tightly together.

Stumbling outside, blue eyes raked over the familiar landscape as she fought back the sick feeling that had her stomach churning, her breaths already coming out in gasps.

"I tried to save her." Amity said, her words falling on deaf ears now that she was alone in James' grasp.

The man didn't say a word in response and continued to shove her along, moving towards one side of the property and Amity was that much more confused upon spotting a fairly large mound of recently excavated dirt.

"What is that?" She asked, her voice holding more fear than she would ever admit to as she began to struggle harder against the foreign man's hold.

A few more steps and a sickeningly familiar sound had reached her ears, the low animalistic moans sending her into a panic as she now flailed desperately against her captor, digging her heels into the dirt as he seemed to so easily keep pushing her towards the hole in the earth.

Without hesitation, James held onto one of her arms as he shoved her upper body forward, pleased at the shriek of fear that left the woman now that she was faced with the pair of hungry undead that had stumbled into the trench the men had begun to dig in hopes of better protecting the farm.

At the sight of nearby prey, the walkers moans just picked up in volume, their sickly rotted arms reaching up towards the proffered woman and grazing the fabric of her shirt as Amity held herself stiff in James' grasp, willing him not to drop her and not struggling out of fear that he would do so.

"I tried to help her. I did everything that I could!" Amity said, her words coming out in a breathy rush as she held back the sobs that wanted to escape her. She wouldn't be crying in her last moments, nor would she beg. She would die with a bit of dignity if nothing else.

"You didn't do shit! She's not here- you are! I am! Where's the fairness in that? She was a good fucking person!" James yelled, his voice cracking just before a gunshot rang out from nearby.

* * *

"Amity!" Michael yelled, hearing his sister's voice from the hallway sounding strained and scared.

"Amity!" He yelled once more, ignoring the fact that Jake had joined him in the small bedroom. Blue eyes quickly took in the situation and Michael realized then that this was the only chance he was going to get to end this thing.

As Jake approached, his intentions with the large man being unknown, Michael finally revealed his hand as he tugged free of his bonds and wasted no time in simply muscling himself to being on top in the situation.

He grasped Jake's hand as it came down towards him, crushing his knuckles sharply against the radiator that he had been tied to and causing the man to let out a pained yell. Without wasting a second, Michael tugged the pistol from the suffering man's belt and smashed it against his temple, sending him falling to the floor as dead weight just as the door to the room slammed open.

It was pure instinct and the drive to protect his sister that had Michael's hand raising as the door smacked off the back wall.

It was determination and fear that had his finger squeezing the trigger.

It was with a bit of resignation, but a lack of guilt, that the man watched Tim fall to the floor, his gun bouncing away from lifeless hands.

Michael Walker didn't allow himself even a moment to catch his breath before he was on his feet and barreling through the familiar house in search of his younger sister.

His throat felt raw with how loud he was yelling her name, willing her to call back to him, but it was only when he had sprinted down the front porch steps that he saw James in the distance dangling the redhead over what appeared to be a pit in the ground.

His first instinct was to shoot the man that had ahold of her, but he realized that he didn't know what was in the ground beneath them and if he dropped Amity then it could lead to trouble.

With that in mind, Michael simply sprinted towards the pair, his boots digging into the soft dirt as he pressed himself closer. Upon apparently hearing his approach, James cast a look over his shoulder at the desperate man and a laugh escaped him.

The sound sent a shiver down Amity's spine just as it sent a sharp stab of fear through Michael's heart. The eldest Walker knew what James was going to do a moment before it happened, the look in the other man's eyes being enough to have him yelling out in pure terror, begging him not to go through with it even as James threw himself forward.

The body weight of both James and Amity combined was more than enough to send the pair over the edge of the trench, a scream leaving Amity's lips as she realized she was falling a second before she hit the ground and the stench of death overwhelmed her.

"Amity!" Michael roared.

It was seconds after the two had disappeared into the ground that Michael reached the edge of the hole and it was only a few seconds more before the walkers and James alike were put down with bullets through their skulls, but a sob wracked through the man when he realized he was still too late.

No movement came from the dark pit at his feet, not a stir or a groan of pain, and it was only pure willpower and a need to know that had Michael sliding down into the trench and throwing aside rotten corpses.

Red hair was spread out over blood-soaked dirt like a crimson fan around the dirty pale face that Michael knew better than his own. He barely noted the tears pouring down his cheeks as he hauled James' lifeless body off of her's before taking her into his arms.

"Bug?" He croaked out, voice torn to shreds by his yelling and grief. "Amity, please." He begged, his knees giving out from under him and sending him back to the ground before he could even consider trying to climb out of the hole with her in his arms.

Her breaths were coming out in rasps, the sound at least letting him know that she wasn't dead even though he had expected the worst.

"Mich... ael." A small voice whispered, catching the man's attention as he looked down at the woman in his arms and found blue eyes looking up at him, tears filling them as well. "My shoulder."

A noise of pain left the woman, one of her hands raising to grasp the opposite shoulder just above her collarbone.

" _Ow_... Mikey, it _hurts_." She said, voice breaking as it did when she was only nine and had fallen off of her horse and fractured her wrist upon hitting the ground.

With his heart pounding in his chest, Michael gathered himself enough to soothe his little sister, his words falling from his lips in a gentle but jumbled string of comfort while one of his hands tugged her own away from her shoulder to reveal a single bite mark deep in the skin there, the flesh around it messy with blood and dirt.

The man closed his eyes against the sight, the pain of the revelation being too much to even have another sob tearing through him as he came to terms with his only surviving family member's fate.

There was no coming back from a bite like that.

That much he knew.

The only thing that pulled the man back to the present, the only thing that ever could, was the sound of a sob from his arms and immediately Michael steeled himself.

He had to be strong for his surely terrified sister. He knew he wouldn't be able to put her down- he wasn't strong enough for _that_ , but he had to be strong enough to make sure that she was calm and happy until the end.

"Shhh, Bug. It's alrigh'. You're gonna be alrigh', sunshine. I'm right here."

* * *

 **Love you all, don't hate me. xx**


	27. Chapter 27

"Gather up yer shit, boy." Merle growled as he entered the cellblock in which Daryl was currently sat.

The younger of the two Dixons was laying back on the bunk he shared with Amity, his arms crossed behind his head as he stared up through the bars of the frame above him to blankly take in the sight of the ceiling.

It wasn't until his brother entered in a tizzy that he even remembered he was supposed to blink and did so once he was sitting up and looking at Merle with confusion.

"What?" He asked simply, causing the older man to scoff in response as he began throwing random bits of Daryl's stuff into a bag.

"Ya heard me, baby brother. Get yer bow, get yer shit, we're leavin'." Merle snapped.

Now, Daryl was standing up from his mattress, looking at his brother with concern and confusion though he still moved to grab up his crossbow as if listening to the other man was second nature.

"Where we headin'?" Daryl asked, his words slow and measured as he did so.

"To get yer bitch, boy- where do ya think?" Merle shot back and Daryl's hand rose, his thumbnail catching between his teeth as he thought over the situation.

"She didn't want anyone to follow her." He said, voice soft as he had been dying to get out and go after her since the day she left, but he was trying to be rational, to respect her wishes like she respected his when he left with Merle.

This was different though wasn't it?

It had been-

"It's been ten days, Daryl." Merle stated, finishing his brother's thoughts without even knowing he was doing so.

 _Ten days_ \- the number was weighing heavily on the prison.

Maggie paced the fences, Rick could barely keep Carl's mind on their work in the fields when every noise and movement from the fence line had his attention turning to it. Carol was withdrawn- she put on a smile and a cheery voice, but anyone who knew her could see right through it.

The doctor was a mess as well. He blamed himself, something that Daryl thought was fair enough. None of it would have happened if it wasn't for his fucking mouth. Amity would have never even considered going back for her notebook if the man hadn't put it in her head that it was the moral and right thing to do.

It was bullshit and Daryl hoped the guilt ate the sumbitch from the inside out.

"Toss me my vest." Daryl said finally, not returning the pleased smile his brother offered him.

* * *

 **Day 6 since Michael and Amity left the prison**

It had taken Michael a little over an hour to convince himself to his feet and up out of the hellhole that he had been sat in cradling his sister in his arms.

The task of getting them both out of the pit wasn't an easy one, and he wanted to kick himself every time Amity let out the smallest whimper of pain, but he couldn't leave her down there with them.

He wouldn't.

"It's okay, Bug. I've got you." He said, the words being repeated by him so many times over the past hour that he wondered if they even had meaning anymore.

How could anything have meaning?

"It's okay, Mikey." Amity soothed the older man, one of her hands resting gently on the side of his face as he stumbled towards the truck that the men had left outside the house.

Michael wasn't letting her die there. He wouldn't take her back to the prison, they didn't need to see that, but he wasn't going to let her die there.

"Michael." She said softly, holding back any sound as he jostled her while trying to open the passenger side door of the truck but her brother ignored her, instead setting her down inside the cab and trying to arrange her so that she'd be more comfortable.

"Michael." She tried again.

"Sit tight, Am. I'm gonna get our stuff from inside and then we'll get goin'." Michael said, acting as if she had never spoken.

"It's not worth it, Mikey. Get your things, leave me here." Amity suggested.

The woman was in pain, but she was by no means delusional or stupid. She knew what the bite on her shoulder meant. She knew it was in a place that it couldn't be removed in an attempt to save her- just like with Big Tiny.

"Get my notebook, take it back to Caleb and maybe... maybe this wouldn't have all been for nothing." She said, voice going soft and the sound of it had her brother taking her face gently between his large palms.

"I'm gettin' all of our things and I'm not leavin' you here." He told her.

"Michael, I know it's hard-" Amity began, her voice soothing and gentle in a way that made Michael want to break everything around them. She was on her deathbed and yet she was still trying to comfort him. "But there's no way out of this for me. I'm- I'm gonna turn and that's that. You can't... you just need to get yourself back to the prison safe. Get back to Carol and be happy. Keep Daryl in line, don't let him cut himself off from everyone. Make sure that Beth still learns to kick ass. Make Maggie smile and make Glenn not take shit too seriously- actually, tell that boy to propose already! What the hell is he waiting for? It's the damn apocalypse." Amity griped, pulling a watery chuckle from her brother as he fought back the tears that were coming to his eyes once more.

"Keep Merle from goin' back to being an asshole- well, more of an asshole than he has been here lately. Watch out for Rick. Keep Carl being a kid, boy's tryin' to grow up too damn fast." She added, breathing hard from all of the talking she was doing, but her words only paused when Michael rested a hand on the top of her head.

"Shhh, Bug." He insisted. "Do you not hear yourself? You can't leave us, Amity. They all need you for that- no one else would have seen that they need all that but you. We can't... _I_ can't do this without you. You hear me? Fuck the virus or whatever the hell it is! You can't- I can't let you go." Michael told her, words catching as his throat tightened and he found himself roughly wiping off his cheeks.

Looking up at her brother, Amity's heart was breaking and she found herself horribly thankful that she wouldn't have to say goodbye to Daryl. She didn't think she could handle it if he fell to pieces as well though it wasn't something she'd expect of the man. No, she figured he would shove it down and take himself away from those who cared about him, which was the exact reason she needed Michael to ensure that wouldn't happen.

Watching Michael now, Amity could clearly see that the man wasn't going to leave her behind. Not at the farm at least, so after a quick assessment of herself- noting the pain in her shoulder, her feverish skin, and how her mind was still thankfully clear- the redhead brought a hand up to gently squeeze his that still rested on one of her cheeks.

"Go get our stuff, Mikey." She said, feeling a bit defeated as the man immediately nodded and went towards the house.

Sitting back in the truck, Amity only had to wait a few short moments before Michael had returned and tossed the majority of their things into the truck bed, only handing her her notebook and tucking her bow down next to her feet.

"Let's get out of here." Michael said, wanting nothing more than to burn the cursed place to the ground, but leaving it in the dust would have to do.

* * *

 **Day 7 since Michael and Amity left the prison**

Leaning heavily against the window, Amity's eyes never left her brother as he weaved his way through the small snarl of vehicles spread out across the road.

Watching him, the woman could see how the man had lasted so long out there on his own. He made quick work of siphoning gas out of the abandoned cars, refilling the cans that they had found in the truck bed before he would put the cars in neutral and shove them out of the way so that the truck would be able to drive through.

Amity felt terrible while watching him do it because she wasn't being useful, but at the same time, it was soothing to see that he could care for himself. It was something she had known, but watching him alone it seemed like her brother was in his element.

He'd survive.

Amity knew that in the deepest part of her heart.

With that thought in mind, she allowed herself a brief moment of rest, her forehead gently laying against the cooler glass of the window- the smooth surface feeling heavenly against her flushed skin as her head pounded.

It wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be, she didn't feel like she was shattering to pieces like Jim said he had, but then again, it had been about 10 hours since she had been bitten.

She remembered something that Jenner had said, back in the beginning, about resurrection times.

 _"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours." Jenner explained, looking over to Amity as if expecting her thoughts on the matter._

 _"Immune response differences?" She suggested and he shrugged his shoulders._

 _"It's a possibility."_

 _"Anything is." She added._

She knew more about what would happen after her death than before it.

Swallowing back the grief that reared in her all of a sudden, the woman's eyes snapped open as the driver's door was pulled open and Michael slid into the vehicle next to her.

"Got another full tank to ride out, Bug." He informed the woman, reaching over to give her thigh the gentlest of squeezes.

Nodding, a motion that was a mistake with how much her head ached, the woman settled back against the seat until the truck was started and moving.

"You're still heading towards the prison, Mikey." Amity said suddenly, her brother's eyes glancing over as she spoke.

"I am." He confirmed.

"You can't take me back there. They don't need to... I don't want to be remembered like this." Amity told her brother, her voice quiet and her reached over in order to gently take one of her hands in his, his thumb rubbing over the back of her hand.

"I'm not goin' to, I promise. We're just drivin' until... until you tell me you can't anymore." He reassured her and that was enough to soothe the ailing woman, her breathing still coming out heavier than normal as she leaned her head back and let her eyes fall shut once more.

"Rest up, Amity. Kick this thing's ass." Michael said, his voice barely above a whisper and Amity knew that she wasn't meant to hear.

He was still holding onto hope that somehow she would come out of everything on the other side. The woman wished that he would come to terms with it all sooner than later.

There wasn't a way out for her. This was the end of the line.

* * *

 **Day 8 since Michael and Amity left the prison**

"What are you gonna tell them?" Amity asked from where she now laid across the bench seat, her temple resting against her brother's leg as he drove.

Michael took a moment to look down at the mess of red hair spread across his lap, his chest clenching painfully as she pulled him out of the facade he had created about this being a normal road trip like the ones they had taken as teens.

"The truth, I reckon." Michael replied and Amity nodded her head, exhaustion leaving her all but completely still for the past twelve or so hours. Her voice had honestly shocked the man since he hadn't heard it in so long.

"That's for the best." She confirmed, a moment of silence falling between them before she chuckled tiredly, the sound so feeble that Michael was resting a large hand gently on her shoulder to make sure she was still completely with him. "I wouldn't mind if you embellished a bit though. 'She fought off thirty walkers before the crazy guy rugby tackled her to her demise.'" Amity recounted, putting on a deep voice as she mimicked her brother.

A small laugh forced itself past Michael's lips, the man shaking his head at her.

"I'll make you sound heroic, Amity. Won't take much... they all knew how you are." He told her, sparking the woman's interest.

"How was I?" She wondered.

"How are you." Michael corrected before clearing his throat lightly. "Strong... that's the first word I'd use. Strong, compassionate, smart as a whip."

Gently patting the man's knee with shaky hands, a small tired smile rested on the redhead's lips.

"Compliments will get you everywhere, big brother." Amity informed him, drawing another pained laugh from the man.

"So will truths, baby sister." He countered, blinking back the moisture that welled in his eyes as she fell into an exhausted sleep and he forced himself to focus on the road.

* * *

 **Day 9 since Michael and Amity left the prison**

"Easy there, Bug." Michael soothed, one large hand rubbing gentle circles across his sister's back as she leaned over the rusted guardrail.

It had been like that since they woke up that morning, stopping ever half an hour or so in order for Amity to dry heave on the side of the road, her body trying to dispel anything and everything that could be making it sick.

It was a useless attempt and Amity was wishing that someone would tell it that.

"Thanks, bubby." The woman said as she straightened up, taking the water bottle that was offered out her way and sipping up a mouthful before swishing it around and spitting it onto the asphalt.

Michael paused at the sound of his childhood nickname, one that was fairly common for boys in Southern families, but it was one that he hadn't heard her use in years.

"Feelin' any better?" Michael asked her, unable to keep the hope out of his voice.

It had been nearly three whole days since she had been bitten and while she wasn't feeling on her A-game, the woman knew that she was nowhere near as bad as Jim had been.

Amity still had her mind about her, something that she was endlessly grateful for, and aside from being ridiculously exhausted, feverish, and now throwing up every five seconds- she could have been worse.

The woman wouldn't allow herself to get her hopes up though, nor was she going to encourage her brother to do so either.

The bite was still sickly looking, the flesh red and swollen. It oozed constantly even with bandages that Michael had wrapped around it. Just yesterday the man had begun to disinfect the wound and made Amity take some pain pills and fever reducers that he had found despite her protests.

It was a waste of resources, he had to have known that, but his thoughts were now on making sure that the wound didn't get a normal infection and neither did she.

"Feels like I've been ran over by at least three semi-trucks and a bulldozer came along just for good measure." She informed him, enjoying the way one side of his mouth pulled up in a half-smile.

She just hoped he'd keep smiling.

"Today we need to head out from the prison." Amity told her brother, fixing him with a look.

The pair were less than a day's drive from the place that they had made their home and it seemed like her brother had no intention of switching routes, no matter what he told her.

She wasn't wanting to be happened upon by any of the group that were on a run or patrolling the area.

"We will." Michael told her, but Amity wasn't buying what he was selling.

Grabbing the front of his jacket, the redhead used what little strength she had left to tug him down closer to her height so matching eyes could find one another.

"Michael, I'm not going back to the prison." She told him flatly, her voice nothing but serious.

"Amity, it's been _three days_. If you were gonna... how long did it take the guy y'all lost in the beginning?" He asked her. "When I lost my group at the start it took Janet five hours and then she was gone. It took Taylor eight. You have been with me for three days now and your symptoms aren't half what their's were."

Shaking her head, Amity's mind went to the only explanation that she had for it all, the same one that she had given Jenner all that time ago.

"It has to be a differing immune response thing." She reasoned. "Maybe because I was sick so much as a kid, maybe because of my genetic mutation that fucked up my ability to have kids."

"That means you could be immune." Michael stated and she shook her head once more.

"It means that I could be _resistant_. It means that give me a few days and I'll be in the same state that everyone else had been!" Amity told him, her voice growing louder as she was working herself into a frustrated tizzy.

"Or, you could be immune." Michael insisted.

"No one's immune, Michael!" She snapped back.

"We don't know that! We haven't met everyone there is to meet! We don't know if there are people who are immune because not everyone's been bit, Amity! There's a chance." He told her, but the woman wasn't having it.

"I'm not going to go back to the prison and take up resources, and see everyone just to... just to still end up dying and turning." She said, her voice quieter but holding the same edge it had before.

Staring down at her for a long moment, Michael hesitated before heaving a sigh and nodding his head, reaching to lift his trusted hat in order to card his fingers through dark curls that were getting too long and messy for his tastes.

"Get in the truck." He insisted and Amity was more than happy to oblige.

* * *

 **Day 10 since Michael and Amity left the prison**

"When are you gonna start believin' that you've got a chance?" Michael wondered, feeling more confident in his evaluation that Amity was immune, whether that was due to her mutation, immune system, or whatever else- he wasn't sure, but he didn't care.

His sister was still living and her fever had broke that morning.

"Give it a year." Amity replied, her voice unsure and that had a laugh falling from Michael's lips.

"You're startin' to think so too!" He declared, hopping up to perch on the truck bed next to her as they had taken a break from driving at Amity's request.

The woman didn't want to spend her last hours cramped up in a vehicle, Michael figured that her last hours were a long way off.

"I'm starting to think that there's something going on, yes- but that doesn't mean that I'm immune." She told him, going quiet as her mind raced with the possibilities.

If only she had known about this situation earlier. If only she would have been able to tell Jenner that her blood might hold the key.

If only she had been bit near the start, or after meeting the group.

Would the group have kept her around as long as Michael did?

She thought so.

Rick was willing to cart Jim the entire way there in the state that he was in, so she couldn't see him tossing her to the curb if she had been bit, but what about now?

What if she didn't turn and they returned to the prison? The bite would be hard to hide.

Would they believe her to be immune? Would they keep her locked away from everyone just in case?

She couldn't see Daryl letting that happen, but what if there was no choice? It would be for the good of the group after all.

"If you keep thinkin' that hard, it's likely that your head'll pop." Michael spoke up, breaking Amity's concentration and smiling softly when she turned her attention to him and glared.

"That's my girl. How you feelin'?" He asked, just like had had asked at least once every fifteen minutes since she had been bit.

"My head hurts still. I'm pretty sure I couldn't lift my bow if I tried... but it's not too bad." She told him, rolling her eyes at the shit eating grin he offered her in return.

He was an overgrown child, thrilled about being proven right.

Or perhaps just thrilled there was a higher chance of her staying alive?

Reaching over, Amity took one of her brother's large hands in her own and gave it a gentle squeeze, appreciating his presence at her side.

"Thanks for being here, Mikey." She said softly and the older man nodded his head.

"Wouldn't be anywhere but with you, kid." He told her, smiling once more before he slid off of the tailgate and onto the ground.

"Ready to go?" He asked and Amity nodded, taking his proffered hand to help herself down.

Her feet had barely touched the asphalt when a familiar noise reached her ears and the redhead's heart picked up speed in her chest. Exchanging a glance with Michael, Amity barely had time to throw herself into the cab of the truck and scramble for her bow before the first walker was dropping with a baseball bat to the skull.

"Stay in the truck!" Michael yelled back at her, his deep voice booming across what was previously an open road that was now swarmed with walkers.

It seemed that a small herd had stumbled upon them, the numbers not in the hundreds but being too high for the two to take on alone- especially with Amity in the state that she was.

"Not a chance!" Amity yelled back, deciding to grab her machete from the dashboard once she realized that drawing back her bow would take too much strength and time while they were being overwhelmed.

Climbing her way out of the truck, the woman immediately stabbed a walker through its skull that was getting to close to her brother who was swinging his bat with all of his might.

"Hey, batter batter. Hey, batter." Amity sing-songed as she decapitated another one of the undead, her light-hearted words being enough to keep her mind from going into a full panic and they pulled an annoyed sound out of her brother as well which was always a win.

"We need to make a break for it!" Michael called out from in front of her, the herd getting so thick around them that there was barely room to move without hands grabbing at their clothes.

But it wasn't _their_ clothes- it was only Michael's, that was, until Amity had started swinging her machete about. While she was digging through the truck, it was like they hadn't even realized that she was there.

"The truck will get stuck on top of them!" Amity called back, knowing that the old thing wouldn't have a chance climbing over the pile of walker bodies that would build up as they mowed them down.

"You gotta better plan then?" Michael asked, his voice holding a tinge of panic as he drew his gun from his belt, popping off a couple of rounds through walker skulls. He had been hesitant to do so at the start because of the noise, but there was little choice left.

"Nope!" Amity chirped, breathing heavily as she kicked one walker away before jabbing her machete through a rotten eye socket. In doing so, she had left her left side open, which was something that she wouldn't have noticed until it was too late, but suddenly the walker apparently coming for her was now pitching forward to lay unmoving on the ground.

Casting a look at her brother, she assumed that the man would be facing his gun in her direction but was surprised to see he was turned completely around. Taking another moment to really look at the fallen walker, she spotted a familiar bolt sticking out of its head and her heart jumped in her chest.

"'Bout damn time we get to have some real fun!" A familiar Southern twang rang out and Amity nearly cried with relief when she spotted the Dixon brothers making a sizable dent in the walkers that covered the road.

Never before had she been so thrilled to hear the voice of Merle Dixon.

Not having time to dwell, Amity continued to slash her way through the undead that swarmed around them until the numbers were dwindling down into a manageable amount and she found her arms shaking with exertion.

Another swing of her machete had the weapon being ripped from her hands, the walker whose skull she embedded it into taking the item down with it and leaving Amity to her own devices.

It wasn't a dire problem at that point though as the three men fighting along with her made quick work of the remaining walkers and then Michael was at her side a heartbeat after the last one had fallen victim to Daryl's hunting knife.

Large palms rested on either side of her face, sweeping her hair back from her forehead as Michael frantically checked to see if her fever had returned due to her over exerting herself. The worried man was relieved to find that she was just a normal degree of warm and sweaty from the fight.

"You good? You feelin' bad again?" Michael asked.

"Again?" A voice questioned from next to them, the gruffness of the tone having the woman's breath catch.

"Daryl." Amity said softly, her blue eyes wildly hunting for his and then she was stumbling towards him, ignoring that they were both sweaty and splattered with walker blood. All she needed was the feeling of his form pressed against hers.

The hunter didn't fail her as he caught her shaky body in his sturdy arms and held her tightly to him, his face dropping to hide itself against her wild ginger curls for a long moment.

"Ole Merle comes out all this way, practically dragging Darylina by his damn mop, and gets nothin'. That's some shit, Cowboy." Merle griped from his place standing next to Michael, the eldest Walker doing nothing but rolling his eyes at the older man's dramatics.

His words did the trick though and Amity was pulling away from Daryl, much to the man's chagrin, and moving to wrap her arms tightly around Merle- taking care to avoid the now bloodied knife attached to one of his arms.

"What'd he mean again?" Daryl asked once more, his sharp mind not allowing itself to be distracted from the one thing he care about more than anything else happening- Amity's wellbeing.

Slowly releasing Merle from her death grip, Amity looked over her shoulder at Daryl before carefully stepping back and looking at her brother.

Clearing his throat, Michael gained the Dixon's attention and nodded over to the truck that sat amongst the slaughtered walkers.

"I reckon we should move on a bit and find somewhere to camp. We can explain everything there... The prison, uh, it's too far out to make it by nightfall." He suggested, his reasoning a bit shaky and while the two other men exchanged a look, they didn't question it.

"There's room in the truck bed." Amity added, trying not to squirm under Daryl's intense gaze.

She wanted nothing more than to lose herself to the comfort that his presence provided her. She wanted to be wrapped up in his arms and breathe in his familiar smell and simply pretend that everything that was going on wasn't, but she also knew that that wasn't logical.

It wouldn't help anything and she had to face the situation head on.

She just wasn't looking forward to showing the overprotective pair what had happened.

"You're alrigh' though?" Daryl question, his voice holding a concerned edge that had Amity's chest clenching painfully.

"I'm okay, we'll talk about it when we get settled." Amity reassured him, stepping forward and slowly settling a palm against his cheek, smiling softly at the familiar feeling of his scruff beneath her skin.

She realized that he was about to question her further, his eyes giving away his intentions before he even opened his mouth so she pressed herself up on her tip-toes and found his lips with hers, silencing the man with a kiss that she had been aching for since the moment she had left him sleeping in the cellblock.

Pulling away, Amity noted a new emotion that was behind the man's eyes now as well- a fair amount of anger mixed into the relief and concern, and that was something that she could understand and had expected.

"That was damn stupid, you know that? Leavin' in the middle of the night. I told you I was gonna go with you, girl! You go temporarily brain dead or somethin'?" He asked, voice now turning into a low growl that had her resisting the urge to sigh.

Daryl didn't scare her nor did he intimidate her. She didn't like seeing him upset though and that was why his anger unsettled her, but she had known it was coming since the moment she left.

He had a right to be pissed.

"That was the point, Slick. I didn't _want_ you coming with me." She told him and the man seemed to swell a bit with frustration, his mouth opening to snap at her again, but he was cut off by Michael's hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

Daryl roughly shrugged it off, but Michael wasn't the slightest bit perturbed by his reaction.

"We'll talk about it once we're somewhere else. Hop in the back." Michael directed, leaving no room to argue as he then gently led Amity away from the situation and over to the truck, helping her climb inside.

Daryl noted the shakiness of her movements and how careful Michael was when he touched her. Both observations served to strike a fair amount of fear in the man's chest, that fear then feeding into the anger he felt over her leaving and leaving _without him._

"Come on, baby brother. Best climb in if ya want yer answers." Merle said, gesturing over to the truck where he was now headed.

With another moment spared to watching Michael climb into the driver's seat, Daryl steeled himself for whatever was to come and slung his crossbow over his shoulder.

It was about time for him to know what had happened.

Ten days was too damn long.


	28. Chapter 28

Michael only took the truck a short distance further before he was pulling off to the side of the road and into what had looked to be an old scenic turnoff that he had reasoned would be far enough off the main road to leave the truck and into the woods enough that they could set up a makeshift camp for that evening.

Parking the vehicle, the Walker siblings sat in the cab for a few moments longer, exchanging a glance as they both tried to gather up their thoughts on the new change of events.

Neither of them had been expecting to run into anyone from the prison and now that they had, Amity's short-lived confidence over the chance of her survival was dissipating and doing so rather quickly.

"It'll be alrigh', Bug. I'm here." Michael told her, saying the words that he had repeated over so many times the past four or so days.

Holding his gaze for a moment longer, Amity nodded her head, sending ginger curls bouncing before a sharp tap on her window had her head whipping around to see Daryl lingering just outside of her door with obvious impatience.

Grasping the handle, the woman pushed open the heavy truck door while Daryl stepped back and out of the way. It was only once her boots hit the asphalt that she felt a heavy wave of exhaustion fall over her and reached out a hand to steady herself against the cab of the vehicle.

Rough hands ghosted over her upper arms as she did so, the hunter stepping into her space and she looked up to see eyes filled with concern and a hint of fear that had her chest tightening.

"Ya alrigh', Cherry?" Daryl asked, his gruff voice soothing her as she nodded tiredly.

"Just a bit worn out." She excused and it was obvious the man didn't buy it.

"Come on, Darylina. Get yer princess and be at least a bit fuckin' useful." Merle called from the other side of the truck where both himself and Michael were now stepping into the tree line to begin setting up camp.

Amity pushed gently on the man in front of her's arm to get him moving, ignoring the look he shot her at the softness of the action when her usual shoves and pulls on him held a bit more umph.

A little under an hour later and the foursome were sat around a low fire, some fresh meat the Dixon's had on them now cooking over the hot coals and letting off a smell that simultaneously had Amity's mouth watering and her stomach churning painfully.

"Now what in the hell took ya two so damn long?" Merle asked, the loud man no longer being able to stand the silence that had fallen over them. He had too much to say, too much he needed to ask. "Y'all not think that some people would be damned worried? Darylina's been a damn puss about the whole thing and upsettin' Carol should come with a capitol sentencin'."

Amity chewed her bottom lip as Merle ranted, her eyes flickering to Michael who looked at her for a long moment before sucking in a deep breath.

"We ran into some trouble." He informed the pair, his large form tense as he carefully watched the brothers.

"Naw shit, Buffalo Bill. We saw the herd." Merle snapped back, only falling quiet when Michael raised a hand to silence him and Daryl punched at his arm to accentuate the point.

Michael was having a hard enough time recounting the story without the man's interruptions.

"We made it to the farm fine." Amity said, trying her best to help get everything back on track.

"But it wasn't abandoned." Michael added on to the end, watching both men tense up.

Amity's eyes were only on Daryl, holding his gaze when it turned to her with questioning held deep in its depths.

"There were three men livin' there. We squared up to 'em for a bit, but eventually Amity went to keep the peace." Michael continued and Amity saw heat flare behind Daryl's gaze as clearly as if he would have stated the anger he was feeling.

"Shouldn't have let her-" Michael started but Amity cut over him.

"I made a choice to trust them. We needed to get inside the house and they were squatting in the place so." She explained, dismissing the fault that she knew her brother was trying to take.

"At first they were fine, nice enough guys and they let us take the living room to sleep in, but that night I heard something upstairs while on watch. I went to check it out and was hit from behind. Woke up in Beth's old room but the whole house had basically been gutted." Amity continued, the story now falling from her lips so quickly that she wasn't paying mind to any of the three men around the fire. She was lost in the memory. "Both Michael and I were bound, he was attached to the heater. We asked why they attacked us and they pulled out my notebook... said they needed a doctor."

Daryl caught her attention, pulling her out of her own head by shifting forward and resting his elbows against his knees. His blue eyes bore into hers and though she had been expecting him to have already went off about how stupid they had been, she was grateful that he was being attentive and letting her speak. His sturdiness soothed her and made it easier to continue.

"They didn't care when I explained that I wasn't that kind of doctor. They separated us, took me into the spare room where there was a woman laying in the bed. She had been stabbed, one of the men... James... they were a couple. She was so far gone when I got there. We had no medicine, barely anything to sanitize the wound with..." She trailed off, taking a moment to take a deep breath and gather herself. "She died and James, he went off the deep end. He was unstable to start with her being hurt, but once she was gone... He held me at gunpoint and drug me out of the house with him. He thought I could have saved her. I _tried_ to save her."

Amity's voice caught in her throat as a tear escaped from where they had been welling in her eyes.

"I got free, killed one sumbitch and busted in the head of the other. Got outside in time to see him holdin' her over some pit." Michael said, picking up where Amity left off as he reached out and carefully enfolded one of her hands in one of his larger ones. "He was laughin', completely lost it, looked at me and I _knew_ \- I could see the decision he made before he just... They both fell into the pit. I ran over, not really knowin' what to expect but there were... uh, there were a couple of walkers in the bottom."

Daryl was on his feet at that as Merle still sat in his place, one of his hands tightly fisted on his knee to the point of his knuckles going stark white as he stared not at them, but into the fire.

"I shot 'em all, the walkers and the sick sumbitch that had her. Climbed down into the hole to get her out." Michael kept speaking, rising as well as Daryl approached them, his jaw set tightly as he reached out for Amity and took her face between his rough palms.

At first, Amity tried to avoid his gaze for everything that she was worth, but he turned her head, forcing their eyes to meet and her chest clenched painfully at the panic and rawness she saw behind his beautiful Georgia blues.

"No." Daryl stated, leaving no room for argument as if the past was listening to him and would alter.

"Daryl." Amity said softly, but the man shook his head, his hands pressing just the slightest bit harder into the sides of her face.

"Tell me." He demanded her, his gruff voice even rougher than normal as he took in the look on her face and the tears that were now steadily sliding down her face.

"I was bit, Dare." She told him, not being able to drag the situation out any longer. She kept her tone light, her words gentle, with the hope that that would somehow lighten the blow.

His hands, usually so steady, trembled against her cheeks until hers reached up to softly cover them.

"You ain't." He whispered and Amity moved forward to gently touch her forehead to his but he was roughly jerking himself away from her.

"You ain't bit!" He yelled, his emotional outburst having her jumping while Michael cast his eyes nervously to the woods around them.

"Daryl, man, you gotta listen." Michael began, stepping forward to try to calm the hunter down but was met with the youngest Dixon shoving him back a couple of paces.

"She ain't bit!" He snapped. "I know ya had a damn death wish, but you ain't... this can't happen. Not to you."

Without hesitation, Amity tugged aside the collar of her fairly loose shirt in order to expose her bandage before she was ripping it off to show the wound to the outside world and to the eyes of both of the Dixons which were now on her.

She heard Merle suck in a breath through his teeth before he dropped his forehead into the palm of his hand, rubbing roughly across his face while Daryl was frozen in his place.

Amity could see his chest heaving from where he stood, his observant gaze taking in the unmistakable shape of a walker bite before his hand was rising to his mouth and his thumbnail was trapped between his teeth.

"I think she's immune." Michael announced suddenly, ignoring Amity's glare.

Daryl scoffed loudly, the noise rough and broken as wild blue eyes turned to the eldest Walker sibling.

"Ain't no such thing." He spat, anger being the only way he was keeping himself together as his gaze kept returning to the bite mark that marred the shoulder of the person in his life that he had never thought he would have found, and who he couldn't imagine losing.

Now here they were and he couldn't even find it in him to regret ever getting attached to her in the first place.

"We've never heard of such a thing." Michael corrected, stepping closer to Amity so that he could lean over and use the firelight to get a closer look at the bite.

"This sucker is about four days old." He explained and that got the attention of the other two men.

Immediately, Daryl felt a spark of something warm ignite in his chest before he even had the mind to stop it. He was clinging on to anything that meant he wouldn't have to face losing Amity.

He couldn't handle losing her.

"Four days?" Merle echoed, rising to his feet now to come closer to Amity as well.

"I never seen anyone last more than a handful of hours. Ya feelin' alrigh', Red?" He asked, continuing as he inspected the bite mark.

"I wasn't for a while. I was really sick and exhausted, threw up a lot for a while and had a bad fever, but now... I'm just tired, got a headache." She explained, her words slow and careful.

She wasn't wanting to instill any false hope as Merle let out a low whistle.

"I think it might just be an immune response thing. I was sick a lot as a child so maybe... it's just taking longer." She reasoned but Michael shook his head.

"She's got a genetic mutation." He explained and Daryl nodded knowingly though Merle looked confused. "It mixed up her genetic code- coulda made her immune."

"Or it coulda not." Daryl countered, his eyes not leaving Amity.

"Time's the only thing that'll tell." Michael replied.

There was a long beat of silence between them all that left the redhead shifting under the heavy gazes that were resting on her.

"Ya need to get some sleep." Daryl said finally, his voice more tired than anything as he watched the woman all but sway on her feet.

"Need to re-bandage the bite. Don't need it gettin' a normal infection or anyone who might come up on us to see it." Michael explained and both Dixons nodded.

"Got some antibiotics in the bag. I'll grab 'em. We can get more when we get her to Hershel tomorrow." Merle suggested, moving away from the group and towards his bag as he spoke.

Amity opened her mouth to argue, but was silence by Daryl guiding her over to sit down on the sleeping bag he had laid out earlier. He took the medical supplies that Michael offered to him, the former ranch hand trusting the hunter to take care of her.

"I can't go back there, Daryl." Amity said, her voice quiet as Daryl finished up taking care of her shoulder before handing her the couple of pills Merle passed over and his own water canteen.

"We'll talk about it in the mornin', girl." He told her firmly, his voice tight in a way that left Amity simply nodding in response.

He gestured for her to lay down, but she reached out for him before doing so. Tugging his arm, she didn't relent until the hunter was leaning back against a nearby stump and she was able to settle down between his legs so that she could lean against his chest.

The man spared the other two a glance as she did so, usually uncomfortable with the PDA, but as he thought about losing her to the shit hole of a world that they found themselves in, he simply wrapped his arms tightly around her small form.

"Yer gonna be alright, sweetheart." He said, his voice barely a whisper that was drowned out by the steady breathing of her sleeping form.

* * *

The morning came quickly for Amity, though for Daryl the night had dragged on.

The hunter found himself holding his breath at random times throughout the night, stilling himself so that he could feel the redhead's heartbeat under his palms and the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

While it seemed that Michael had been confident in his diagnosis of Amity's immunity, the woman who was the most educated on how the turn worked out of the three of them hadn't seemed so sure, and that concerned Daryl to no end.

He couldn't shake the feeling that he would suddenly find that she had slipped away while in his arms, that she would stir and her eyes would open to greet him with a milky-whiteness rather than her usual blue.

He had sat still as both Merle and Michael stirred, watching them as they began to move quietly around the camp. He didn't want to rise and wake her no matter how uncomfortable he usually would have been with the position they were in and his brother of all people being around. He knew that the woman needed to be resting more than he needed to feel at ease.

"We need to get her back to the prison." Merle said, keeping his voice low as he spoke but making it loud enough that his brother could hear him as well.

"I know." Michael confirmed, heaving out a sigh as he lifted his hat from his head and pushed a large hand roughly through his hair. "I've been draggin' my feet gettin' us back because she didn't want to. She didn't want anyone to see her sick and to remember her turnin' or havin' to stop the turn."

Daryl's arms tightened fractionally around the redhead as Michael spoke, the chance of her being taken away from him and turned into one of those things still being all too real.

"She ain't sick though." Merle reminded him, looking over to where his brother sat with the woman in question wrapped in his arms. He couldn't help the frown that tugged at his lips at the sight. He had to hold on to the belief that she wasn't sick- that she wasn't going to turn- not only for his sake, or even Amity's, but for his baby brother.

He could see the fear and worry behind the younger man's eyes no matter how hard he pushed it down.

Merle could read that boy like a book.

"Need'ta take her back. Get the doc and the old man to look at her whether she wants to or not. Can't just let her go untreated." Daryl spoke up, his voice a low rumble that had Amity stirring slightly until he brushed a hand down over her wild hair, soothing her back to sleep with a sigh leaving her lips that tugged at the hunter's heart.

"She's gonna fight us on it." Michael told the Dixons who both scoffed in response.

"Let her. I'll throw the damned princess over a shoulder to get her there, _shit_. She can't be over a buck twenty-five soakin' wet." Merle reasoned and Daryl nodded in agreement.

"Get the truck loaded up. We'll get her there in a couple of hours. Might not even wake up." Daryl directed, turning his gaze back to the woman against his chest as the other two men rose to their feet to do just that.

* * *

Blinking back the blurriness that came with a long and heavy sleep, Amity moved to sit up as confusion and a bit of panic gripped her when she found that she couldn't gather where she was.

"Easy, girl." A familiar voice rumbled, soothing the woman almost instantly until she noted the interior of the truck around her and the fact that she was laying across the bench seat while Daryl drove and their brothers took over the truck bed.

"Where are we going?" Amity asked, immediately suspicious.

"Ya know damn well where we're goin'." Daryl replied simply, steeling himself for the outburst that was bound to come.

Amity shot daggers at her companion, her mouth opening to berate him for doing the one thing that she had demanded they not do, but quickly she closed it back and leaned into the seat.

The hunter cast a confused glance over to her, not expecting that reaction to be the one his revelation received.

"That it?" He asked, sensing a catch.

"You gonna turn us around?" She questioned in return.

"Not a chance."

"Then that's it."

With another sigh, the woman squirmed around on the seat to get into a more comfortable position before Daryl was tapping a hand against her knee for her attention.

"Canteen's on the floorboard, take two of the pills from the bottle next to it." He directed her and immediately the woman leaned forward to do as told, not having the energy to argue even after the long sleep she had.

Fighting off a herd after a day of puking up her guts and just barely breaking her fever had taken a lot out of her, not to mention the fact that her body was still trying to heal her bite wound and maybe was still fighting off whatever the microbe was that infected her from it.

"How ya feelin'?" Daryl asked once she had swallowed back the pills and took to leaning against the passenger side door, her eyes trained tiredly out the windshield.

At first, a snippy reply was wanting to fall from the woman's lips, but upon hearing the hint of concern hidden behind his tone, she shrugged her shoulders instead.

"Not bad, still got a bit of a headache and I'm fucking exhausted." She revealed, not trying to sugarcoat any bit of what could be a warning symptom.

"Ya ain't sick though." Daryl pointed out and Amity shook her head.

"Not yet anyways. Not now." She replied.

Daryl considered what she had said for a moment before he reached out for her, his rough hand gently grasping one of hers and giving it a careful squeeze. Even if she was going to get sick, even if the disease was just playing hide-and-seek with them, he was thankful that he would at least get to be there. He didn't want to see her turn, didn't think he could handle her being gone from his life, but he didn't want to waste a moment of it, especially not if he could be making it easier on her.

"You're gonna be alrigh', girl. When did ya get so damn negative?" He asked, making the corners of Amity's mouth twitch up in response.

"I think being negative in this scenario is understandable, Dixon." Amity retorted.

"I think it's kind ironic, doncha think?" He replied, his words not falling in line with their teasing and making the woman raise a brow at him for an explaination.

"Ya went back for the chance of a cure, Cherry." He reminded her, shooting a glance over to her with an accompanying smirk. "Ya damn found it, girl. Didn't even need'ta leave the prison."

His clarification had a laugh leaving the woman, her head thrown back a bit against the seat as she did so.

"Give it a few weeks and then you may have a point, Dixon." She told him, but Daryl shook his head.

"I got a point right now." He countered confidently, and that confidence was something that Amity clung to.

First, Michael had believed that she was maybe immune to the bite, and now Daryl seemed to believe as much as well. If _Daryl_ of all people thought so... then maybe she did truly have a chance.

Looking over to the man next to her, Amity gave his hand a gentle squeeze as he had given hers earlier, her body feeling lighter when he glanced over and met her eyes for a short moment before returning them to the road.

There was a lot that Amity would give to have more time with Daryl Dixon and her defensive negativity would be the first to go.

* * *

As the truck rolled up to the prison gates, both Michael and Merle stood up in the truck bed and used the cab to balance themselves as they waved down the guards to let them know they weren't hostiles.

Amity heard Merle yelling something just before the gates were pulled back and the vehicle rolled through them, the woman catching a glance of Glenn out of her window and it seemed that the man was smiling widely at their arrival.

As they pulled up to the prison, parking along one of the fences, Amity's heart warmed and quickened pace at the sight of her family pouring out the place and onto the concrete yard.

She felt the truck shake as Michael hopped down from the truck bed and cleared the space between himself and Carol in only about two strides, the woman practically throwing herself in his arms as they met.

Smiling softly at the sight, Amity sucked in a shaky breath and looked over to Daryl who hadn't left the safety of the truck yet either.

"It's gonna be alrigh'. Ya look like you're 'bout to piss yourself." Daryl told her and Amity let out a not-so-delicate snort in reply.

"Thanks for that." She told him flatly.

"Welcome, now I'd get out before Maggie drags yer ass out." He advised, nodding towards her window and Amity turned just in time for the door of the cab to be yanked open and her to be pulled into a familiar set of lean arms.

"Don't you ever do that again! Next time I'm goin' with you, no arguin'!" Maggie rambled, her words muffled by the way her face was buried against Amity's neck- thankfully on the side opposite of the bite. "You took forever! Did you _walk_ most of the way back? I lived on that farm my entire life I know it's not a ten day drive there and back from here!"

"Maggie, you're stranglin' her." Beth's sweet voice sounded from nearby, but as soon as Maggie's vice grip had released, the blonde's replaced it.

Unfortunately for Amity, this time Beth's chin pressed directly into the bandage covering her bite and she let out a pained yelp in response that had the younger girl reeling back immediately.

Daryl was there in an instant, moving between Amity and Beth and ducking his head to check on the woman who nodded to say she was fine even as her teeth stayed tightly clenched together.

"Get yer daddy and that dumbass doc. Tell 'em we need 'em both in the infirmary." Daryl directed Beth, giving the girl who looked mortified at the fact that she may have hurt Amity something to do. With a nod and blonde ponytail bouncing, she raced off to do as told.

"Is she hurt?" Rick's voice sounded from nearby, though Amity couldn't see him around Daryl's broad figure.

"We'll talk about it later." Michael cut in and a lot of muttering followed his words.

"Let the damn girl get looked at before y'all start diggin' for information for fuck's sake!" Merle snapped, his voice the closest yet as he must have been stood just behind his brother and Amity had no doubts that he was glaring down the group.

"Easy, man. They're just concerned is all." Michael said, trying to diffuse the tension as Daryl decided it was time to move Amity and reached out for her as if to pick her up.

"I can walk Daryl. My legs aren't broken." Amity told him, batting away his hands.

The man ignored her and reached for her once more, but a shove against his sternum had him backing off with a huff and letting her finally slide down until her boots hit the pavement.

The group was silent as she stepped out from around Daryl and gave them all the best smile she could muster up, meeting all of their eyes in turn until she rested them on Rick's.

"I'm okay, don't worry." She reassured, but she could clearly see that no one seemed convinced.

"Come on, girl." Daryl prodded, wanting her to get looked at and as she stepped forward with him at her side, Michael and Merle flanked them like they were still outside of the fences.

Rolling her eyes at their overprotective tendencies, Amity reached out a hand to Maggie who was immediately at her side and grasping it tightly.

"I missed you too, Mags." She told the younger woman now that she had the chance to, smiling up at her and receiving a teary-eyed grin in return as they walked.

The grip that Amity kept on the Greene woman's hand as they continued on was a clear enough sign to the three men acting like her guards that she wanted the woman to stay with them, even when they were heading to get her injury checked out.

"What happened out there?" Maggie asked once they were making their way through the corridors of the prison, but Amity shook her head.

"You'll hear about it soon." She replied and the brunette didn't push her any more.

Reaching the infirmary, Daryl preceded Amity inside and it was clear why he had done so when she entered to see the hunter keeping Caleb from running to her with a glare and muscled arms crossed over his chest.

"Amity, I'm so glad you're back! I was worried- well, I didn't know what to think, but you're back now and-" Caleb rambled and surprisingly it was Hershel who cut the man off by settling a hand on his shoulder and giving it small squeeze.

"Take a seat on the examination table, Amity, and we'll take a look at your injury." The older man directed, his soothing voice automatically putting her at ease as she moved to do as he requested with the assistance of Maggie.

"It's nice to have you back." Hershel told her as he approached, exchanging a smile with her then looking at his eldest daughter. "Maggie was driving herself crazy with worry."

"Was she? I wouldn't have guessed." Amity replied, pointedly holding up her hand that was still wrapped up with Maggie's.

Hershel laughed before the tone returned to a more serious note and Amity let out a soft sigh, her eyes searching the room for her brother.

Upon finding him and seeing that Carol was still at his side along with Rick who was hovering in front of the closed doors, Amity chewed her bottom lip but then Michael nodded once and she knew what needed to be done.

Rip off the bandaid- literally.

Reaching up, Amity pulled her shirt collar to the side much like she had when showing the Dixon brothers to expose the slightly dirty bandage there.

Immediately, both Hershel and Caleb opened their mouths to ask questions but before they could, Amity pulled the bandage away to expose the angry crescent shape mark that was dug into her skin.

The grip on her hand tightened as more than one gasp echoed through the room before a heavy silence bore down on them.

No one knew what to do or say, and Amity knew that many of them were still processing what they were looking at.

"A lot happened out there." Amity announced, her voice shaky so she cleared her throat and jumped into it.

Much like when she had told Merle and Daryl, the emotions in the room varied as she spoke and she felt Maggie's hand trembling in hers. It wasn't a pleasant tale to recount, and Amity couldn't even find it in her to embellish it in order to make her sound badass at all. Honestly, Michael was the one who took everyone out in the whole scenario while all she did was get tossed in a hole.

As her story concluded with finding Merle and Daryl while fighting off the horde, she could see questions beginning to form behind Hershel's eyes but Rick was the one that stepped forward.

"When were you bit?" He asked, words slow and laden with confusion and curiosity.

"About five days ago." She replied and was met with silence one more before everyone began talking at once.

"Five days?" Maggie echoed from her side.

"Is that even possible?" Caleb asked.

"How have you been feeling? Have you been sick?" Carol asked.

Only Hershel raising a hand silenced the chatter in the room before he met Amity's eyes.

"How?" He asked simply and the woman sucked in a deep breath.

"I got some theories."

* * *

 **Another chapter for you lovely readers!**

 **The next chapter will begin with a bit of a time jump, and then we'll get the TWD storyline rolling along a bit more. I have a lot of stuff planned out for the future that I can't wait for you guys to see!**

 **Let me know in the reviews what you thought about this chapter, about Amity's bite, and what you're excited about for the future!**

 **Hope you enjoyed! xx**


	29. Chapter 29

**Thanks everyone for the reviews on the last chapter- they really inspire me to get more out to you guys!**

 **A special thank you to Elljayde for catching that blip in a past chapter- I went back and fixed it now. I will most likely start going through and actually editing my past chapters soon to make sure there are no more of those mistakes or other simpler ones.**

 **Hope y'all enjoy this chapter! xx**

* * *

"I think I could take him." Amity said boldly, tossing a smile over to Carol as she used metal tongs to turn the meat that was roasting on the large outdoor barbecue they had fashioned.

"I never said that you couldn't." Carol replied though she was shaking her head at the energetic younger woman all the same.

It had been over a month ( to the best of their estimations ) since the day that Daryl and Merle had returned to the prison with the Walker siblings looking worse for wear at their side.

At first, with the bite gouged deep into her shoulder, it had taken everyone in the prison a long time to go back to being comfortable around the woman. There had been discussions about her being locked in a cell at night that she hadn't argued against, but Daryl sure as hell had. The man claimed that he wasn't going to be locked up anywhere and when it was suggested that it was unsafe for him to stay with her as well, Amity thought she was going to see him follow through with his usual threat of stomping someone's ass.

It had been a rough few weeks in the beginning to say the least, but Amity didn't blame anyone for their fears, they were fears she held herself, but as time passed without the redhead falling ill again and the bite began to scab and slowly scar over, people had relaxed.

The memory of the bite didn't fade though, and it wasn't helped by the fact that many people were now looking at her like she was going to randomly spout gospel that would save them all from the hellscape they were living through. She had become the face of a possible cure, but Amity was secretly waiting for the day that she would feel her fever come back and have to take a long hike away from the prison.

"I hear the doubt in your voice." Amity insisted, turning away from the heated grill that was causing a thin sheen of sweat to coat her pale skin and instead began to shred some chunks of already cooked meat into bowls to be handed out.

"Maybe you're hearing things because, as much as you complain about it, we both know you could stop it all if you wanted." Carol insisted, her words hitting dead center on the target as usual.

"Morning, Daryl!" A couple of voices called out from the eating area, alerting both women to the approaching hunter.

Without a word, Amity and Carol's eyes met and the redhead gave the older woman a look that clearly said she didn't want their topic of conversation to continue with Daryl being a part of it as well.

"Just so you know, I liked you first." Carol stated once Daryl had reached them, her words pulling a laugh from Amity.

"Stop." Daryl insisted, taking a bowl and shoveling some food into his mouth in a way that Amity could only assume was a Dixon thing after watching Merle eat as well.

"You know, Rick brought in a lot of them, too." The hunter said, trying to redirect the attention that he wasn't exactly comfortable with though he had gotten exceptionally better at being looked to as time went on.

It pleased Amity to no end that the man was beginning to come to terms with his leadership role and was starting to see the worth that he had not only to the survival of the prison, but to his family.

"Not recently." Amity reminded him and Carol nodded.

"Giving strangers sanctuary, keeping people fed, you're gonna have to learn to live with the love." Carol informed the man who shook his head at her as he rounded the edge of the grill, reaching a hand out to gently snag Amity's chin between his thumb and forefinger.

She realized then that she had been avoiding looking over at him, and only once their eyes connected did she let out some of the tension she had been holding in her shoulders and offered him a soft smile.

"You look good enough to eat." Amity informed the man, taking in the sight of his broad shoulders filling out the shirt he wore, the lack of sleeves putting his muscled arms on display. Forget the barbecue, she'd take him over it any day.

"Stop." Daryl repeated, the phrase being one he found himself using on Carol and Amity more and more as the women both loved to tease him.

"How are ya feelin', darlin'?" He asked, his voice low and the term of endearment he used sent a wave of heat through her as she held his gaze and fought against the flushing of her cheeks.

She was more than thankful for the hot grill that already kept her sweating through the day that would hopefully hide the pink in her cheeks though the smug smirk on his lips alluded to the fact that he may have known just how much of an effect his words would carry.

It had taken her a few weeks to get over her exasperation with the question that Daryl asked ever single time he laid eyes on her after any period of separation. The question grated at her nerves and patience, but as the hunter's hand tentatively rose ( his actions hesitant due to the number of people mulling about ) and his thumb brushed over the pink double crescent scar that was on display due to her tank top, she felt nothing but gentle fondness towards the man.

"I feel fine. I'm over this damn heat though. If I wasn't from around here I'm fairly sure that I would have melted into a puddle of nothing by this point." She griped, making a face as she used the back of her hand to brush across her damp forehead to accentuate her point.

"Doc still stealin' your blood?" Daryl asked and Carol turned around to shoot Amity a look, the woman obviously eavesdropping on their conversation, as the hunter seemed to step right into what the two women had been discussing before.

"He's not stealing it, Slick. I'm offering it." Amity said, shaking her head at him.

"You don't like it." Daryl shot back, knowing that to be a fact and it was something that the redhead couldn't argue against.

She hated being pricked and prodded. She hated feeling weak a few days a week. It wasn't a fun time, but it was necessary.

"That's beside the point." Amity moved from Daryl's side at that but not before brushing a hand lightly down his upper arm, feeling the tightly corded muscles beneath his sun-kissed skin.

She lightly hip-checked Carol and the older woman looked at her with a bit of confusion before understanding dawned on her and she nodded, setting the cooking tongs aside and turning back to Daryl.

"I need you to see something." She told the hunter who looked at her with interest, blue eyes glancing to Amity who nodded.

"Patrick, could you come and take over for us please? Breakfast is slowing down so it shouldn't be too busy." Amity called over to a younger boy that was around Carl's age.

Though a bit awkward and perhaps overeager, Patrick was a good kid. He avoided Amity's self-defense lessons like the plague, but she knew he would come around eventually. At least, she really hoped he did. Sweet natured or not, everyone needed to know how to hold their own.

"Yes, ma'am." Patrick chirped immediately and Amity moved from outside of the grilling area as he began to come over, Daryl at her side until Patrick stopped right in front of the man.

"Mr. Dixon, I just wanted to thank you for bringing that deer back yesterday." Patrick said, looking up at the gruff hunter with genuine admiration that had a small smirk pulling at Amity's lips. "It was a real treat, sir and I'd be honored to shake your hand."

Amity watched Daryl's face closely, noting the mix of amusement and a twinge of unsureness that flickered behind his smirk that mirrored her own.

The man set aside his now finished bowl of breakfast, licking each of his fingers before holding out a hand to roughly clasp the younger boy's and giving it a hard shake.

Holding back a laugh, Amity could see the way Patrick was actually unfazed by the rather crude handshake and instead seemed thrilled that the interaction had happened at all.

"He's a sweet kid." Amity said once they were out of ear shot of the boy, bumping her shoulder against Daryl's as Carol laughed.

"At least he shows some damn appreciation." Daryl replied, bumping Amity back which had the woman stumbling a step as she began to laugh as well.

"I appreciate you plenty." Amity insisted even as he rolled his eyes. "You're just a baby."

Daryl shot a glare her way and the redhead responded with an innocent smile that had a scoff coming from the hunter.

"Gonna get it, girl." He told her.

"Promise?" She quipped back, finding his eyes and appreciating the way they were fixed heatedly on her.

"About today-" Carol cut in, shaking her head at the pair through there was a smile on her lips. "-I don't know if we're gonna be able to spare a lot of people for the run." She said, her words directed to Daryl.

"That place is good to go. We're gonna move on it." Daryl insisted, only slowing his gait as they reached the fence around the concrete yard.

Amity's lips pressed tightly together at the sight they had now. Dozens of walkers were wandering across the small expanse of grass outside the fence while a good dozen or so were already pressed against the chainlink as the fence crew popped them through the gaps.

She could see Merle's broad back amongst them, his shoulders flexing as he stabbed a walker skill through his with bayonet attachment.

"Yeah, the thing is, we had a pretty big buildup overnight. Dozens more towards tower three. It's getting as bad as last month." Carol explained, gesturing to the small herd.

"They don't spread out anymore." Amity noted with a sigh.

"With more of us sitting here, we're drawing more of them out." Daryl reasoned. "Ya get enough of those damn fence-clingers, they start to herd up."

"Pushing against the fences again." Carol said with a nod. "It's manageable, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long."

There was a moment of silence that spread between the trio before Carol was knocking her shoulder against Daryl's.

"Sorry, Pookie." She said softly, making the hunter scoff lightly at her teasing but the sound held no heat as he turned away from the mess along the fences.

Amity watched his broad shoulders for a moment, before looking over to Carol and shrugging with a sigh.

"Guess I'm going on a run today." She said, her smile widening as she realized that it'd be difficult for Daryl to talk her out of going with the shortage of hands.

"Go easy on him." Carol told her before they both began to follow the man in question.

* * *

Throwing her bag into the back of the Hyundai, Amity readjusted her bow and quiver slung over her shoulder as she stepped back from the vehicle.

She had yet to ask Daryl about going, and instead made the executive decision for herself that she was needed.

"Hey. I was just gonna come find you." She heard Zach say and glanced over to see Beth approaching him just as Daryl was heading towards herself.

"What are ya doin'?" Daryl asked, voice low as he stopped in front of the redhead with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Throwing my stuff into the Hyundai. I figured I was going to be riding with you." Amity replied, acting as if this had been discussed all along.

"Cherry, you ain't goin'." Daryl said simply and Amity hitched a brow up at that.

"You guys need help. I'm going." She stated.

"Ya ain't. It's too soon, you're healin' still." He insisted but Amity shook her head.

"I've been healed, Dare. I'm fine. The scar doesn't even pull anymore." She told him, repeating things that she already knew he knew.

"When's the last time the doc stole your blood?" He asked quickly in return.

"You make him sound like a vampire." Amity told him, pressing her lips together to hold back a smile as Daryl snorted.

"When, girl?" He repeated himself.

"Three days ago. Plenty of time." She said and watched as Daryl tried to fish for more reasons to keep her from coming along.

"Dixon, listen here." Amity said finally, voice stern as she grabbed the front of his vest that he was wearing over his jacket and tugged him a step closer to her. "I'm not going to sit around the prison when there's shit to do that I can help with. I'm more than capable of going out on a run- and frankly, I want to keep an eye on Romeo over there."

She gestured over her shoulder to where Zach stood with Beth, the pair talking about something as Beth pressed a kiss to the boy's cheek.

"You stick with me." Daryl said finally, holding Amity's gaze as if trying to drill his words into her head.

"I'll be right beside you." She reassured him, smoothing down his shirt with a smile until he brushed her off with a small huff, making her laugh.

"Okay, are you gonna say good-bye?" Amity heard Zach ask loudly as Beth walked by.

"Nope." The blonde chirped in response, making Amity snicker as Daryl picked up a box of supplies and headed towards the truck to load it.

"It's like a damn romance novel." The youngest Dixon griped.

"Let young love run its course, Chief." Amity scolded him, though she couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice which had Zach narrowing his eyes her way.

"Hey, I'd like to start pulling my weight around here." A deep voice called out from near the front of the vehicles and Amity looked over her shoulder to see one of their newer members of the prison wandering over.

Daryl had found the man about a week prior and brought him in. Amity hadn't talked to him much aside from his initial evaluation that she conducted along with Caleb upon entry.

The doctor looked over new residents for signs of sickness or injury while Amity did a quick session to evaluate where their mind was at.

The man seemed troubled, but not dangerous and she had told the council as much before he was truly let into their group.

"Bob, it's only been a week." Sasha told the man, leaning on the driver's side door as she spoke to him.

"That's a week worth of meals, a roof over my head." The man insisted. "Let me earn my keep."

"You were out on your own when Daryl found you." Sasha reminded him, speaking slowly as she seemed to consider the man.

"That's right." Bob confirmed.

"I just want to make sure you know how to play on a team." Sasha continued.

"We ain't gonna do it unless it's easy." Daryl interjected, passing the conversing group to head towards his bike.

Amity nearly rolled his eyes at the man. He could at least pretend to be interested in the outcome of the conversation.

"You know he was a medic in the Army." Glenn added, leaning on the front of the Hyundai and meeting Amity's eye as she passed by Sasha, Tyreese, and Bob as well.

"You a hell of a tough sell, you know that?" Bob was telling the younger woman, making Amity smile.

That was an understatement.

"Okay." Sasha agreed finally and Amity swung her leg over the motorcycle without hesitation, settling into her usual spot behind Daryl.

It had been longer than she would have liked since she had been on the bike with the man, but ever since she came back from her escapade with a bite mark and a fairly bad case of insomnia, Daryl had been hard-pressed to even let her work the fence without breathing down her neck.

It was stifling at first, but over time he backed off a bit and she knew deep down that he was just worried.

It didn't make her any less likely to throw a crowbar at him for testing her though.

The engine roared as they pulled their way down the gravel drive to see two horses standing off to the side of the path near the gates and Amity nearly hopped off the bike out of sheer excitement.

* * *

Michael reined his steed up next to Michonne's, his place in the saddle so natural that most of the children in the prison were convinced that he had been a cowboy like out of the books they read.

"We're glad to see you both." Rick said as both him and his son approached the pair.

"Glad to see you, too." Michael replied with a nod towards the man, his blue eyes searching the yard around them as Michonne hopped off her horse.

"Somebody hit the jackpot." She announced, pulling comics out of her saddlebags and handing them off to Carl.

"No way." The boy gasped. "Awesome! Thank you."

"I get to read 'em when you're done." Michonne told him with faux sternness.

"And I found this." She added, handing over an electric clipper to Rick. "Your face is losing the war."

Michael let out a deep laugh as the woman smirked at the former sheriff.

"You two gonna stay a little while?" Rick asked, looking between Michonne and the man who had yet to dismount.

"Just a little while." Michonne replied while Michael simply pulled off his hat to run a hand through his hair.

The loud roar that accompanied Daryl's bike had all three of them turning towards the sound when the caravan came rumbling down the driveway.

Michael spotted the mess of red hair peeking over the hunter's shoulder just as its owner spotted him.

"Well, look who's back." Daryl said as Michael finally dismounted in order to catch his little sister who climbed off the motorcycle to fling herself at him.

"Hey, Bug." Michael told the woman, his deep voice rumbling through his chest as he clutched her tightly against him.

"Didn't find him." Michonne told them and Amity tried in vain to press down the disappointment at her words.

"Missed you." Amity told her brother quietly.

"Glad to see you in one piece." Daryl told Michonne before looking to Michael and giving him a nod of greeting.

"Missed you too, kid." Michael replied, ruffling his sister's hair with a smile.

"I'm thinking of looking over near Macon." Michonne announced.

Amity tried to hold in her sigh at that. She wasn't pleased with Michael's assistance in the vendetta Michonne had against the Governor, and she knew that Carol wouldn't be pleased to hear that he would be leaving again to go that far.

It seemed that they all shared the same sentiment about the pair leaving as Rick looked away.

"It's worth a shot." Michonne snapped, voice defensive.

"70 miles of walkers. Ya might run into a few unneighborly types." Daryl said, trying to make a point. "Is it?"

Both Michael and Michonne avoided eye contact with the Dixon at that. Michael chose to press a kiss to the top of Amity's head before gently pushing her back towards the bike she had rode up on.

"I'm gonna go check out the Big Spot." Daryl told Rick, his tone making it clear that he was offering the man a spot to come along. "The one I was talking about- just seein'."

"Yeah, I got to go out and check the snares." Rick excused almost immediately. "I don't want to lose whatever we catch to the walkers."

Amity knew the man was still having a hard time with everything and Farmer Rick was still his main persona that he was hiding behind.

"I'll go." Michonne volunteered immediately.

"You just got here." Carl pointed out, sounding upset.

"And I'll be back." She reassured, looking to Michael, her now trusted backup, who shook his head.

"I gotta go see my woman. She's likely to string me up if I head out again without seein' her." He reasoned, making Daryl nod as Amity climbed back onto the motorcycle behind him.

"Smart man." Amity told her brother with a wide smile.

"Stay safe out there, Bug." Michael told the woman, his voice taking on a more serious note as his eyes flickered from hers to Daryl's.

"I got her." Daryl reassured the big man before revving his engine to get the caravan moving out once more.

* * *

"Army came in and put these fences up." Daryl told the group after they were all out of their vehicles and armed, ready to move in. "Made it a place for the people to go. Last week when we spotted this place there was a buncha walkers behind this chainlink keeping people out like a buncha guard dogs."

Amity's observant eyes scanned over the expanse beyond the large chainlink fence that they were now stood at, taking in the sight of the big green tents set up on the asphalt and the stillness of the area.

"So they all just left?" Bob asked and Amity looked back at him with a brow raised.

"Listen." Amity told him, drawing everyone's attention to the music that floated through the air.

"You drew 'em out." Michonne noted.

"Put a boom box out there three days ago." Sasha explained.

"Hooked it up to two car batteries." Glenn added.

"Not my taste in music, but I guess it'll do." Amity quipped, smiling as Daryl shook his head at her.

"All right, let's make a sweep." The hunter said, taking charge of the group in a way that was so natural it had Amity grinning to herself. "Make sure it's safe. Grab what you can. We'll come back tomorrow with more people."

Stepping forward, Amity went to move into the area almost immediately but a hand catching her wrist had her pausing.

"You stay by me." Daryl told her, reiterating their agreement from earlier.

Amity nodded, holding back a soft sigh as she simply did as directed and stuck close to the bowman.

She held her weapon aloft, the string of her compound bow drawn tight to where she could draw it back at a moment's notice.

Moving through the tents, the woman felt a shiver roll down her spine at the sight of the actually dead corpses and abandoned equipment strewn about. For some reason that she couldn't put her finger on, anywhere that there were signs of the army having been there gave her the willies.

Perhaps it was because that was where their last hope had laid- with the chance that the army would take control of an area and save people, but she knew in many places they had done the exact opposite. They had put people down without a second thought until they were overrun themselves.

"Come on." Daryl said as they approached the main building, moving forward to loudly knock his elbow against the front window a few times.

"Just give it a second." He told them, mainly Zach, as he sat down on the windowsill.

"Okay, I think I got it." Zach announced suddenly, making Amity roll her eyes at him since she knew where this was going.

"Got what?" Michonne asked.

"I've been trying to guess what Daryl did before the turn." Zach explained to the woman as Amity moved closer to the trio, coming to lean on the window just next to Daryl.

"He's been trying to guess for like six weeks." Daryl said, sounding annoyed with the boy who now sat next to him on the other side of Amity, leaning against the woman's side in a way that had the hunter narrowing his eyes.

Amity simply chuckled, resting a hand on the kid's head as she ruffled his hair.

She spent a lot of her time with Beth and him as he continued their self-defense training and transitioned them into more knowledge that would be used on runs rather than just defending themselves.

She was glad that she was on this run with him, though she would have trusted Daryl to watch his back.

Still did.

"Yeah, I'm pacing myself. One shot a day." Zach insisted, unfazed by Daryl's growling.

"Alright, shoot." Daryl said finally, humoring the kid.

"Well, the way you are at the prison- you being on the council, you being able to track, you helping people out but you're still being kind of... surly." Zach listed off the traits he associated with the man, ignoring the laughter that had Amity shaking next to him. "Big swing here." He warned before announcing, "Homicide cop."

Without pause, both Michonne and Amity burst out laughing though Amity was faster to stem hers as Daryl turned a look towards the swordswoman.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Nothing. It makes perfect sense." Michonne drawled out, clearly amused.

"Actually, the man's right." Daryl said, making Amity press her lips together as she knew it was bullshit. "Undercover."

"Come on, really?" Zach asked, unsure whether to believe the man or not.

"Yep. I don't like to talk about it 'cause it was a lot of heavy shit, ya know?" Daryl said simply.

Zach looked at him closely before looking up at Amity and catching sight of the blank faced look she gave him to reveal nothing.

"Dude, come on, _really_?" He asked again, turning back to Daryl who gave him a pointed look.

"Okay. I'll just keep guessing, I guess." Zach said with a sigh, catching on to the fact the hunter was fucking with him.

"Yeah, you keep doing that." Daryl told him.

As if on cue, a walker slammed against the glass that Amity was leaning on and the woman slowly looked over at the undead creature with little interest, taking a moment before pushing herself off of the glass to stand up straight.

"We gonna do this, Detective?" Michonne asked Daryl, pulling a chuckle from Amity as they moved towards the entrance of the building.

"Let's do it." Daryl said simply as the doors were pried open and the walkers were quickly handled and dragged outside.

"All right, we go in, stay in formation for the sweep. After that, you all know what you're supposed to look for." Sasha directed the group. "Any questions?"

"Was there ever a time that you weren't the boss of me?" Tyreese wondered aloud.

"You had a few years before I was born." Sasha told the man.

Raising her bow, Amity moved forward at Daryl's side. She motioned with a hand for Zach to keep pace with her as well, the young man decided against arguing with his mentor and instead simply did as directed.

The trio made their way slowly down the large center aisle with the rest of their team, doing a quick sweep of perimeter before breaking off into small groups.

Amity helped Zach and Daryl fill up their cart with some dried food items before she realized that the three of them doing one job was a hell of a good time waster.

"I'll be an aisle over. Zach, keep with the Detective." Amity instructed but Daryl grabbed her arm to keep her in place.

"What happened to stayin' with me?" He asked her and she placed a gentle hand against his chest.

"I'll be one aisle over, Slick. If something happens I'll scream my damned lungs out and you can play hero, okay?" Amity said, trying to soothe him but also getting fed up with his overprotective tendencies.

She understood their origin, but that didn't make them easier to deal with.

With a grunt, Daryl released her and Amity gave him a bright smile before moving down the aisle past their cart and Zach and taking the corner to bring her to the next aisle.

She was walking slowly along, shoving things into the bag she carried until the shelf she was reaching for suddenly toppled away from her after a smashing sound.

Leaping back, the redhead looked wide-eyed at the mess in front of her and then at Daryl who seemed to literally teleport to her side.

Hearing a groan, Amity carefully began to move around the fallen shelf and Daryl crouched down, shining his light so that Amity could see Bob under the rubble.

"Ya alright? Ya cut or somethin'?" Daryl asked him.

"No, man, but my foot is caught." Bob told him.

"Alright." Daryl said, turning back to Amity and Zach and spotting Tyreese approaching them as well. "He's just caught. Come on, help me get 'em up."

"What happened?" Glenn's voice echoed through the space, the worry clear in his tone.

"Everyone's alright!" Amity called back.

"We're over in wine and beer." Zach added.

The four of them began to crouch around the shelves, trying to figure out the best way to get the man out from under them.

"I was moving fast, man. I drove right into the drinks." Bob explained, sounding pained but relieved.

"Man, you lucked out. If this thing had come down on you the wrong way-" Tyreese began, but was cut off by a loud sound above them.

The ceiling gave in suddenly, a walker tumbling through the new gap while its intestines caught the overhanging beams in the ceiling and left it to dangle like a grotesque piñata.

"Mikey would have a field day." Amity said, thinking of her brother's treasured bat with her twisted sense of humor.

"Yeah, uh, we should probably go now." Glenn announced from where he had appeared with the rest of their group, all of them looking up at the roof in shock.

"Bob's still stuck. Get him out of there!" Daryl roared, moving towards the shelves with more urgency now.

"We'll get the others." Sasha said, but there was no time to move.

Another loud crack sounded before another portion of the ceiling caved in and sent a walker tumbling down into the store with them. One after another holes were appearing in the ceiling and walkers were falling through.

"Shit!" Amity cursed, eyes wide as she leapt to the side after she caught a creaking sound coming from directly above her just before another walker tumbled down and sent its decomposing innards splattering down the aisle.

In only moments, the entire area had turned into a fucked up game of Dodge the Falling Walker.

"Zach!" Amity yelled as the young man was chased down an aisle by a walker, her immediate instincts tearing her between covering Daryl and protecting the kid.

Taking a step towards him, the woman didn't even have time to consider what she would do before she had two of the undead stumbling towards her.

Letting one arrow fly and skewer a skull, Amity didn't even bother to nock another in place and instead tossed the bow over her shoulder, pulling her trusted machete from her belt as she slammed it home into the other's skull.

"Amity?!" She heard her name being yelled out, not realizing that she had been backed down another aisle and out of the eyesight of anyone else from her group.

Running forward, Amity skid around a corner just in time to see Daryl scale a stack of boxes in order to not become walker food.

"Here, fuckers!" Amity called out loudly, grabbing a few of their attention and leaping forward to take a chunk out of one of their skulls before kicking it away.

Another dropped as its eyeball was replaced with an arrowhead and Amity made quick work of third just as Daryl got down and was wrestling with another.

Gunshots sounded nearby and Amity turned to see Zach aiming and taking down the walker on Daryl.

"Get Bob!" He yelled, moving to the shelf and pushing it upwards along with Amity so that Daryl could drag the man free after putting a boot through the skull of a crawler that was trying to get to him.

"Come on! Go!" Glenn yelled at them as they got Bob to his feet, the ceiling giving a loud straining noise as debris began to fall in.

Looking up, Amity spotted the remnants of what looked to be a helicopter or plane on the roof threatening to tip into the building.

"Let's get out of here!" Glenn roared as the plane fell more and the group began to run for it.

With her wrist clasped firmly in Daryl's hand, Amity kept Zach in the corner of her eye until the young man was suddenly stopping and the woman found herself reeling around as a horrifying yell escaped him.

She watched with wide eyes as a walker took a chunk out of his calf.

"Zach!" She screamed, her throat grating painfully as she threw herself towards the younger man just as the ceiling dropped in.

"Amity!" Daryl yelled as she tore herself away and sprinted towards him.

She watched in horror, her feet not carrying her fast enough along the blood-slicked floor as a walker grabbed him from behind and dug its teeth into his throat, ripping out a chunk of flesh without any ounce of hesitation.

"No! Zach!" She screamed, still moving towards him until a strong arm was looped around her waist and she was being carried to the door.

"Zach!" She yelled again, her cries drowned out by the roof finally giving away and the ceiling collapsing in just as they breached the front entrance.

Daryl kept his hold on the woman as she fell to the ground in front of the store, a pained noise leaving her as her knees hit the asphalt and she tucked her head down against them.

She absent-mindedly felt Daryl's hands ghost over her, trying to reassure her and comfort her but she couldn't face it.

Letting out another painful sob, Amity's grief soon morphed into anger and she rose so quickly that Daryl had to sit back on his heels to keep from being pushed over.

Without pause, Amity grabbed the nearest and largest chunk of rubble that she could find and lift before hurling it at the store as if she blamed the building itself for their misfortune.

She took another piece and threw it along with many others, her arms burning with effort until she finally began to settle down, her chest still holding a deep pain, but her mind was clearer as she turned to look at the group that were stood watching her small episode.

Blue eyes shifted between each member, reading their reactions to what had just happened and even to her reaction to what had just happened. She took a moment to consider each of them before nodding once and turning to look at Daryl who had risen to his feet as she raged.

He was one of the only ones truly considering her in the same way that she had them.

"Let's go." She said, her voice soft but firm, and the hunter nodded.

They got back to the prison a short while after night had fallen.

The pulled through the gates and up to where they parked the vehicles and once stopped, Amity hopped off the bike and tried to head directly inside but Daryl's arm around her waist stopped her.

"I'll tell her." Daryl told the redhead, knowing that was what she was going to do. She was going to go take on the emotional task without even seeing if anyone else was willing.

 _Fucking martyr_.

"You don't have to." Amity said, turning in his hold to look up at him.

"Neither do you." He told her, glancing around to see that the others were too busy unpacking the vehicles and mourning in their own ways to pay them any attention so he rested his forehead gently against hers.

"Go get cleaned up. I'll tell her." He said again and finally Amity nodded, tucking herself against him for a moment to take a deep breath before pulling herself away and moving towards the prison without another word.

Daryl watched her go for a long moment before directing his attention to the rest of the group, some who were watching her leave as well.

"I'll talk to Beth." He informed them, getting slow nods in return before he headed towards the prison as well.

Once inside, Amity went straight to her cellblock and gathered a change of clothes.

Being so focused on her task, the woman didn't even hear her brother approach until he spoke.

"How'd it go?" His deep voice asked from the doorway and after tensing for a moment, Amity didn't turn around.

She let silence hang between them until she had all of her things gathered in her arms and was moving to leave, which meant pushing past him.

"Zach died." She stated.

Michael's face crumbled at the news, the large man letting out a long breath.

"You okay?" He asked his sister, feeling stupid for it as soon as the words left his lips.

"I'm okay." She stated simply, gesturing for him to move out of her way.

The man hesitated a moment, but then did as directed. As much as he wished he could talk to his sister and take away the hurt she was feeling, he knew that she had to work through accepting what had happened first.

He watched her as she took the stairs and headed towards the direction of the showers, and with a heavy heart he returned to his cell where Carol looked at him with question in her eyes.

* * *

Laying on the bed she shared with Daryl, Amity looked up at the concrete ceiling without really seeing anything.

She felt a bit numb, like her fingertips were asleep along with her cheeks and feet. Everything felt, looked, and sounded a bit muffled as if she was under the covers.

A hand on her shoulder brought her back to focus, everything suddenly having definition again as she turned her attention to the man who had just settled down on the edge of the bed.

The pair simply looked at one another for a long moment, blue irises meeting blue irises as the prison stood fairly quiet around them. Everyone had settled in for the night, the grief hanging over the cellblocks like a heavy blanket.

"I'm tired." Amity said, her voice quiet and even though he knew what she meant, Daryl nodded his head towards the pillow she was laid back against.

"Get some sleep." He suggested, but the woman shook her head and let her eyes fall shut for a moment.

"I'm tired of losing people." She clarified, unknowingly echoing his earlier words to Beth.

Holding back a sigh, Daryl shifted to take off his hunting boots before stripping his vest and jacket away as well. He tossed the garments across the room towards a chair, kicking his shoes under the bed before peeling off his shirt and jeans to leave him in his boxers and wife beater.

Without a word, he laid back on the bed and opened his arms towards the woman.

Amity eyed the man for a moment before Daryl made a noise of impatience and hooked an arm around her waist and pressed her close against his side, his face dropping to her hair and he finally took a deep breath- the first he had since the first walker fell through the ceiling.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his broad torso, clinging to him as if he might be ripped away from her at any moment, but she timed her breaths with his and soon found herself calmer, feeling safe in his embrace though no less sorrowful.

"'m tired too." Daryl admitted quietly and Amity pressed a kiss against his chest in return for the information, sighing softly as she snuggled closer to him though that task was nearly impossible with his grip on her.

"Get some sleep." Amity said, echoing the man though her words were directed intentionally and with a nod, he knew they both needed to do just that.

They were tired, but they weren't giving up. Another night had to be slept through, and another day would be pushed through tomorrow.

"Ya gonna?" Daryl asked her, knowing that most of her nights consisted of laying in bed with him until her mind couldn't handle the stillness any longer and she went to relieve whoever was on guard duty that night.

"I'm going to try." Amity replied quietly.

That was all any of them could do.

They could try- and they would keep trying until the end.


	30. Chapter 30

When Amity's eyes opened, she was more than a little surprised at the sight of sunlight trying its best to shine through the sheets that covered the door to the cell.

She looked at the fluttering fabric for a long moment, realizing that she had just had the first complete night's sleep that she had in months.

"Ya must have been tuckered out." A deep voice said from next to her, the usual gruffness of it made even more so by the early hour.

Tearing her eyes from the doorway and turning them to the man laying next to her, Amity couldn't help the soft smile that played over her lips at the sight of him looking back at her.

"I'm surprised you're still in bed." She said, voice just over a whisper as if talking plainly would ruin the peace of the early morning.

"Didn't want to risk wakin' ya." Daryl told her, dropping his eyes from hers as he spoke and she leaned forward to press her lips to his shoulder, reassuring his words and thoughtfulness.

"Thank you." She told him sincerely, her smile brightening when he offered her a small one of his own.

"Best get up now though. Michael's leavin' already today. Heard Michonne talkin' about goin' last night, doubt he'd let her go alone." Daryl informed the redhead as he sat up, stretching out toned arms in a way that had her wanting to tug him back into bed with her.

"Carol's not going to be happy." Amity noted with a small sigh and Daryl shook his head before pushing himself to his feet with Amity following soon after.

She shivered as her feet hit the cool concrete floor of the cell. Though the days were hot, the evenings and mornings were fairly cool and there was already a breeze floating through the room.

As she stripped her fabric shorts down over her legs, she felt eyes on her and glanced towards the hunter who had paused in his own dressing to apparently watch her.

A small smirk spread across the woman's full lips as she stepped out of her shorts and bent at the waist to scoop them up into her hand, not sparing Daryl a look as she did so and placed them with the rest of their dirty clothes.

Next she stripped her tank top over her head, leaving herself dressed only in her under clothes as she moved to the small set of shelves they had squeezed into their cell to stack their things on, clothes included.

Humming to herself, Amity searched out a pair of dark jeans and another tank top, setting them aside while she hunted down another pair of panties as well, but was soon stopped by rough palms gliding around her waist.

A breath of air left the woman as her back was pressed tightly along a firm bare chest and she tilted her head back with a smile, looking up and behind her at the hunter who had grabbed her.

"Can I help you?" She wondered, her tone teasing as a low rumble left her partner and sent a wave of heat through her.

"Told ya, you were gonna get it." Daryl rasped out, his touch firm as he took his time exploring the curves of her waist and hips, his hands coming to rest splayed out across her taut stomach and hips.

"Well, you've been known to lie through your teeth, Dixon." Amity taunted, smiling until her mirth was interrupted by a small gasp that soon turned into a light moan leaving her lips as the man placed an open mouthed kiss to the curve of her throat.

His lips journeyed downwards, resting on her shoulder for a moment before she felt the gentle pressure of his teeth against her skin and her knees decided that that was enough for them.

She rested back against him more heavily, his strong hands keeping her on her feet as he nibbled and sucked at her shoulder, leaving behind a mark that she knew would require a t-shirt to cover it, but at the moment, she could care less.

"Daryl-" She said, voice breathless and that was all it took for the man to have her turned around, her chest now pressed firmly to his as his hands hooked around the back of her thighs and lifted her so that she was straddling his narrow waist.

"What about my teeth, darlin'?" Daryl asked as her back hit their mattress, the hunter braced over her as he smirked down at her for a moment then continued his ministrations of her skin, pulling another soft moan from her.

His lips grazed over her collarbone, the raised flesh of her scarred-over bite mark having him pausing momentarily and Amity prepared herself for him to pull away from her after he spotted it.

Her breaths were heavy, her chest rising and falling rapidly in the silence until she felt him gently press a kiss to the still tender area. Smiling softly, Amity ran her fingers through the man's long hair, her nails scraping lightly over his scalp as she returned his gentle affection with a small bit of her own before his lips continued to travel downwards.

When they both had their fill of one another, something that Amity was certain would never truly happen- at least on her end, the pair lazily stayed sprawled out on their mattress.

They had heard Rick and Carl leave the cellblock after small cries from Judith alerted them that at least her family was now awake.

"We should really get up now, huh?" Amity said, her fingertips lazily running over Daryl's chest as the man watched her draw patterns against his skin.

He gave a grunt of confirmation, something that the woman was more than used to, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, then her nose, and finally her lips.

The action had her smiling against his lips in the brief moment before he pulled away and snagged a pair of clean boxers to pull on over his lower body.

Amity stayed laying in their bed for a moment longer, smiling softly when Daryl looked her way and shook his head at her, his eyes roving down the length of her bare figure.

"Ya ain't makin' this any easier, girl." He told her, voice rough in a way that had her smirking softly.

"Toss me my things." She requested, gesturing to where she had laid them out before he had decided their morning was better spent not getting dressed.

He did as she asked and she made quick work of tugging on her clothes before rising to her feet and taking one of his sleeveless button ups from the shelves to slip on over her tank top.

Turning around, she noted Daryl's raised brow and shrugged her shoulders.

"A tank top is out of the question thanks to _someone._ " She pointed out, crossing the cell towards him and pressing herself against him, burying her face in his chest for a long moment and just reveling in his closeness.

"Ain't sorry 'bout it." He rasped in her ear, sending a shiver through her as his strong arms wrapped around her body as well.

"Miss you." Amity said, her words muffled in his shirt but they had Daryl looking down at the top of her head with confusion all the same.

"How can ya miss me when I'm right here?" He wondered, waiting for her to look up at him and after a moment she did.

He watched her chew her bottom lip, leaving the the flesh red and swollen when she released it to answer him.

"We've both just been so busy with keeping things running. You're always with me, but it's never just... us, you know?" She said, trying to explain herself and the hunter nodded, confirming that he understood what she meant.

"Yeah." He grunted out, a bit of a sigh following his words.

"It's okay. We've got time now and we'll just get more of it." Amity reasoned, looking up at him with hope clear in her eyes. "This place... it's giving us time again. There's still danger-" She paused for a moment, thinking of Zach and the loss of him. "-but this place is helping. We're getting to live again."

Daryl considered the woman in front of him for a moment before nodding his head, pressing a long kiss to her forehead before he stepped away from her.

"I want ya to be able to live." He told her, his mind going back to their first kiss and then their second- the talks of survival versus living and he knew that he wanted nothing more than for the woman to be able to _live_ and live a long and happy existence without worrying about having to survive through every second of the day.

"You make that happen." Amity told him, not shy about her words or the emotion they carried.

Getting bit had changed a lot of things in Amity's mind. It changed how she approached not only life, but also her relationship with Daryl. She knew that he still had a hard time with affection and that was fine- she understood that he had boundaries that were hard to overcome and she'd never breach his trust by pushing him, but she also knew that she could have died without making it clear how much she cared for him.

"Daryl, I'm the happiest I've ever been with you. Walkers or not." She told the man, watching heat flush his face as his eyes dropped from hers. Taking a step forward, Amity rested her open palms against his chest and looked up at him. "You do. When you got up in my face that night back in the quarry, I would have never thought it, but dammit, Dixon, if I don't-"

A scream tore through the cellblock and cut off Amity's words as the sheer terror in it echoed throughout the space.

Immediately, Daryl was on alert and he grasped Amity's arms, tucking her behind him as he swiftly hauled up his crossbow from beside of the door and pointed it at the entrance.

Ignoring his protective tendencies, Amity stepped back from the man's broad back and grabbed her bow from its resting place, using her free hand to holster her handgun and quickly check that her knives and machete were in place on her belt.

"What the hell is goin' on?" She heard Daryl yell from the doorway, Amity now just behind him as they looked down into the cellblock that was now in a frantic panic.

"Walkers in D! We need to check for a breach!" Sasha yelled out from the lower level, looking up at them.

Amity sprinted down the stairs with Daryl, the two of them meeting up with Sasha, Glenn, and Tyreese as they quickly locked the cellblock off from the rest of the prison.

There were no walkers wandering in the tombs, none were outside the gate leading deeper into the prison.

"It ain't a breach!" Daryl determined, now turning in order to leave the cellblock and move to the yard, gesturing the rest of them along as well.

"Hershel, you're on guard!" Sasha called over her shoulder as Daryl pulled open the heavy metal doors and Glenn preceded him out.

Jogging outside to the yard, Amity saw Rick but let the others relay to him what was happening as they tore over to Cellblock D.

Running inside, Amity let arrows fly as soon as she hit the door.

It was chaos.

Everywhere she turned there was a walker ripping into someone or a body that was laid out on the floor suddenly sitting up.

"Come on!" Amity yelled at the people who were standing about, terror in their eyes as they looked at the monsters that had crept into their living space.

Ripping an arrow from the skull of a walker she had just killed, Amity used it to stab through the temple of another as she jumped in between it and a woman just a few years older than Amity herself.

"Get to Rick! Get out of here!" Amity directed her, turning as another walker started towards her but was dropped by a bolt tearing through its head.

Glancing over, Amity nodded her thanks to Daryl before she was moving again, trying not to slip in the puddles of blood that coated the concrete floor.

She saw Daryl scoop a young boy out of the way of a walker after skewering it, but she only paid a brief moment of attention to him before she was pushing up the staircase with Glenn to make sure that no one was trapped up top.

"Duck." Amity heard Glenn say and did so just in time for him to stab a walker through the eye socket that had came up in her blindspot.

"Thanks, man." Amity told him, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder as Daryl joined them.

The cellblock was quieter as people were moved out and the walkers were killed. While Daryl and Glenn went to one side of the upper walkway, Amity went to the other.

She cautiously peered into the cells, using her bow to push back the sheets and keep an arrow ready to fly.

The only thing that pulled her attention was the sound of a snarl as a walker stumbled through a sheet and onto Glenn a few steps away.

"Get down!" Both her and Daryl yelled at the same time, two arrows tearing through the thing's skull a moment later.

"Thanks." Glenn said, voice shaky as Rick pulled the man to his feet, the former sheriff joining them up top as well.

Amity move to them as they looked down at the body of the walker now laying still on the walkway.

"Oh, it's Patrick." Daryl noted, his voice holding a hint of emotion that had the woman wanting to reach out to him but she held back as they were both needed to handle the shit storm that had just swept through.

"Dammit." She said, sighing and moving to push her hand through her messy ginger locks until she spotted the blood covering it and decided against it.

She had just changed into fresh clothes and now she was splattered in gore.

"Sorry about your shirt." Amity told Daryl who looked her over and snorted softly in response.

"That's all of 'em." Daryl said after a moment, looking back into the empty but death filled cellblock.

Bringing people back into the space was the hard part.

Amity wandered, her knife drawn now as she made sure everyone that was dead was down with a head wound before their loved ones were able to be around them and their bodies.

She paced through the cellblock, watching Daryl out of the corner of her eye as he and Rick exchanged a moment on the second floor.

She knew that Rick was having a hard time. He didn't want to be apart of this element of their world anymore. He was trying anything that he thought would keep him from losing himself, but now she knew that he was stepping back up to the plate in a way.

She really needed to talk with him before he found himself more lost than before.

"He's gone. He's gone." A blonde woman, Elizabeth, sobbed as she fell to her knees beside the body of a man with the telltale sign of an arrow having pierced his skull, a chunk of his cheek that was torn out let Amity knew why it had been done.

The man, Jack, was the Elizabeth's husband and as she sobbed over him, Amity felt like she was going to be sick. The grief pouring from her, and from all around the room, was enough to have the redhead lowering herself to the ground next to the blonde.

"I'm so sorry." She said, her voice gentle as Elizabeth looked at her with tear filled eyes. The women stared at one another for a moment before Elizabeth crumpled and Amity held her close, letting the woman sob against her as they sat next to the body of her now dead husband.

Amity let her eyes close for a moment as she held her, a hand rubbing circles against the woman's back as she muttered empty words of comfort that she knew wouldn't do the only thing that would make her better- bring her husband back.

She opened her eyes and immediately felt Daryl's on her. Turning her head slightly, she spotted the man looking at her with open concern, his eyes flickering to the body that he seemed to consider a moment before nodding, clearly remembering that he had put him down and therefore the two women next to him weren't in danger from him turning.

Eventually, Elizabeth was moved away by another woman from the cellblock and the body of her husband was dragged out by two men that lived in the cellblock as well.

Amity saw Caleb enter the space, his eyes immediately finding her as he jogged over and gently took her face in his hands.

"You okay?" He asked, searching her for signs of injury or distress and Amity nodded before pulling away, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the closeness of her friend though she knew he was just worried about her.

Who wouldn't be when seeing their friend standing in what was now a slaughterhouse covered in gore?

"Dr. S, we need you up here." Rick's voice sounded from the second floor, his tone a bit harder than Amity would have expected. She looked up saw him standing at the railing with Daryl tense at his side, both men having been watching the exchange below them.

Nodding, Caleb looked at Amity one last time, holding her eyes as if reassuring himself that she was okay before he moved away.

"Imma lodge my boot in his ass." A voice growled out from behind her and she turned to see Merle standing amongst the gore of the cellblock.

"Where've you been?" She wondered, raising a brow as she didn't remember him amongst the clearing of the cellblock. The man wasn't know to miss any 'fun.'

"I was outside on guard. Yer brother and the Samurai Sister were headin' out when we heard the shots. Rick ran for the prison and those two came runnin' back. Had to let 'em in and help keep the walkers off of 'em." He explained, holding up his bayonet attachment that was covered in gore.

"Let's go see what's going on." Amity suggested after nodding at his story.

They climbed up the stairs side-by-side, coming to stop outside one of the cells where Rick and Daryl stood looking at Hershel and Caleb, who was crouched over a dead body.

"No bites. No wounds." Rick was saying as they came to a stop, Amity now stood just outside the cell with Merle and Bob who had joined them for a second opinion. "I think he just died."

"Horribly, too." Caleb replied, shaking his head. "Pleurisy aspiration."

"Choked to death on his own blood." Hershel clarified before Merle even had the chance to open his mouth to bitch about speaking English like Amity knew he would. "Caused those trails down his face."

"I've seen them before on a walker outside the fences." Rick said, looking between everyone.

"I saw them on Patrick, too." Daryl added and Amity nodded.

"They're from the internal lung pressure building up- like if you shake a soda can and pop the top." Caleb explained, sounding a bit disturbed by his own analogy. "Only imagine your eyes, ears, nose, and throat are the top."

"It's a sickness from the walkers?" Bob asked.

"No, these things happened before they were around." Caleb said, looking at Amity for a moment before he let his eyes move between all of the other men. "Could be pneumococcal. Most likely an aggressive flu strain."

"Someone locked him in just in time." Hershel noted.

"No, man. Charlie used to sleepwalk, locked himself in." Daryl said, revealing the part of him that knew and cared for every single person in the prison.

"Hell, he was just eating barbecue yesterday. How could somebody die in a day just from a cold?" The hunter asked, his tone biting as his concern rose.

"I had a sick pig, it died quick." Rick interjected. "Saw a sick boar in the woods."

"Pigs and birds. That's how these things spread in the past." Hershel said knowingly. "We need to do something about those hogs."

"Maybe we got lucky. Maybe these two cases are it." Caleb said, trying to be optimistic.

"We aren't known for our luck." Amity stated simply.

"Haven't seen anybody be lucky in a long time." Bob spoke up, agreeing with her. "Bugs like to run through close quarters. Doesn't get any closer than this."

"All of us in here, we've all been exposed." Hershel added, his kind eyes looking between everyone as they stood around.

Amity wrapped an arm around herself, her eyes trained on the body of the man laid out across the ground.

They were all exposed.

"We better start drinking some damn OJ." Merle said from next to her, his words light and sneered but even his face held a fair amount of worry, though no one would dare point out as much.

"Need to go see Carl." Rick said, sucking in a deep breath as they all began to move from the cell.

"He's with Michonne, Michael, and Maggie." Merle offered up, surprisingly being helpful.

Rick nodded, looking over at Amity who immediately came to his side and nodded as well.

"I need to see Mikey, yeah." She confirmed, knowing what he was asking.

Reaching back, Amity gave Daryl's hand a quick squeeze before she was moving with Rick from the space, one hand on the former sheriff's upper arm as if to keep him steady as they walked.

Stepping out into the yard, Amity saw Michonne limping between Michael and Maggie as Carl walked in front of them.

At the sight of his father, the young boy came rushing towards them and Amity stepped back and away as Rick tried to get him to stop.

"Hey, you might want to stay back." Rick began but Carl slammed into him anyways. "Carl."

"Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't see you come out." Carl said, his voice muffled against his dad's chest.

"It's okay. I'm here. I'm fine." Rick soothed the boy, hugging him loosely before gently pushing him back. "But back away."

"I had to use one of the guns by the gate. I swear I didn't want to." Carl explained quickly.

"We were coming back in after the shot, I fell." Michonne explained. "They came out and helped us."

"Are you alright?" Rick asked, looking at Michonne and then Michael as they both nodded.

Michael moved forward, dropping one of Michonne's arms as he started towards his sister but the redhead shook her head.

"Stay over there, Mikey." She demanded, but the man kept coming.

"Stop!" Amity snapped, the man finally halting and looking at her with shock and confusion.

"What happened in there?" Maggie asked, voice nervous now.

"Patrick got sick last night." Rick explained, looking at Amity for some help.

"It's some kind of flu. It moves fast and it's contagious." Amity explained, not wanting to be too technical about it but she had to get a point across as she looked at her brother.

"We think he died and attacked the cell block." Rick explained further before looking just at his son. "Look, I know he was your friend and I'm sorry. He was a good kid. We lost a lot of good people."

Redirecting his attention to Maggie, he spoke again, "Glenn and your dad are okay, but they were in there. You shouldn't get too close to anyone that might have been exposed, at least for a little while."

"Carol's okay too, but the same goes for you, Michael." Amity added on and Rick nodded.

"Carl." He said, gaining his son's attention as he returned to lead Michael and Maggie who were assisting Michonne into Cellblock C.

"All of you." He stated firmly and the young boy nodded.

* * *

"Patrick was fine yesterday, and he died overnight." Carol told the council as they sat around the long table in their meeting room. "Two people died that quick? We'll have to separate everyone that's been exposed."

"That's everyone in that cell block. That's all of us. Maybe more." Daryl pointed out, his hands resting on the back of the chair that he was straddling backwards.

The man couldn't seem to get his leg to stay still as it bounced uncontrollably. His nerves were showing, he knew as much when he caught the look that his brother was throwing him.

He appreciated the council and appreciated being on it. He knew that for decisions to be made they had to be thoroughly discussed but he wanted to _do_ something, not just sit around and talk about it. Not now and not with Amity out of his sight and helping the doctor who was around the others who were exposed.

"We know that this sickness can be lethal." Hershel said, trying to calm down the tension in the room. "We don't know how easily it spreads. Is anyone else showing symptoms that we know of?"

"We can't just wait and see- and there's children. It isn't just the illness. If people die, they become a threat." Carol pointed out.

"We need a place for them to go." Hershel conceded. "They can't stay in D. We can't risk going in there to clean it up."

"We can use cell block A." Carol suggested.

"Death row?" Glenn asked. "I'm not sure that's much of an upgrade."

"It's clean. That's an upgrade." Daryl pointed out.

"Give 'em time to repent their sins, find the holy lord." Merle interjected, not shying away from the dirty look Daryl threw him while Glenn and Sasha rolled their eyes.

"Think that'll work for Dr. S?" Daryl asked, pulling his attention away from his older brother and returning it to Hershel.

"Amity and I'll help Caleb get it set up." Hershel said just as a loud cough sounded from the hallway.

Carol was the first out in the hallway and once Merle and Daryl joined, they saw that it had been Karen, Tyreese's girl from Woodbury, that had been coughing.

"You don't sound so good." Carol was saying as they all filed out of the room.

"We're just taking her back to my cell so she can rest." Tyreese told them, looking between the group warily.

"Tyreese, I don't think that's a good idea." Hershel said, voice calm.

"Why? What's going on now?" Karen asked worriedly.

"We think it's a flu or something. That's how Patrick died." Glenn told them, his voice holding sincere regret.

"Judith is in that cell block. She's vulnerable." Hershel pointed out. "Anyone that may be sick or even exposed should stay away."

"It killed Patrick?" Tyreese asked, obviously worried now.

"She's gonna be okay." Hershel soothed.

"Now that we know what Patrick died from we can treat it, right?" Tyreese asked.

"Don't panic. We're going to figure this out." Hershel told them both. "But we should keep you separated in the meantime. We'll have Caleb take a look at you. I'll see what we have in the way of medications."

"David from the Decatur group, he's been coughing too." Karen offered out.

"I'll get him." Glenn said, turning to Sasha. "There's some empty clean cells in the tombs, right?"

"Yeah, we'll meet you there." The dark-skinned woman replied before moving towards her brother and his woman.

"Okay, come on. Let's get you settled." She said, voice gentle as she waved them forward.

"We'll have to call another meeting later." Hershel said once only Carol, Daryl, and Merle remained.

"Alright." Daryl agreed, letting out a breath. "Merle and I'll get to burying the dead ones."

"You both wear gloves and a mask." Hershel told them men, making sure that they were taking him seriously before he was turning to walk away.

"Hey, Doc?" Merle called after him, surprising everyone but Hershel it seemed.

"Who's all vulnerable?" He asked once the former veterinarian had turned to him.

Hershel seemed thrown for a moment, but shook his head.

"You don't need to worry, Merle. You and Daryl are both healthy men-" He started to say but Merle cut him off with a snort of laughter.

"I ain't worried about myself or numbnuts over here." Merle clarified, gesturing at Daryl who rolled his eyes at the insult. "Just want to know who _is_ vulnerable to this damn thing."

The older man considered the eldest Dixon for a moment before nodding.

"The young, the old, the previously sick. Anyone with a compromised immune system." He explained and Merle nodded slowly.

"How 'bout someone who could be still fightin' off a sickness that's killed everyone but them for all we know?" He asked, raising his brows pointedly, his words catching everyone's attention.

"That... would make them very vulnerable, yes." Hershel confirmed and Daryl felt like his heartbeat was in his throat.

"That's what I was thinkin'." Merle said, turning to look at his brother who was gripping his crossbow tightly. "She was in the cellblock."

"She's still helpin' that damned doctor." Daryl snapped back, the brothers exchanging a look that had Carol stepping forward and resting a gentle hand on each of their arms.

"You two get to burying those bodies. I'll find Amity and keep her away from anyone that could be infected." She said, trying to calm the overprotective brothers.

Carol couldn't blame them for their reactions. After Amity had come back bitten and somehow fought the turn, everyone in their family had been on high alert when it came to her health and safety. Daryl, Merle, and Michael more than the others, but herself, Rick, Glenn, and Maggie weren't too far behind.

Finally nodding, Merle clapped his younger brother on the shoulder before gripping it to turn him and lead him down the corridor, the two men ducking their heads together as they walked while Carol went off in search of the redhead.

* * *

Amity found herself outside of the prison, heading down to the yard where she spotted Merle and Daryl digging alongside Rick.

She had helped with getting everyone looked over with Caleb until the man dismissed her, claiming that he had the rest of it covered.

Once she had nothing more to do, she went in search of the hunter who she knew would be keeping himself busy.

"Toss me a shovel." Amity chirped once she was near enough, causing all three men to turn and look at her, seemingly surprised by her random appearence.

"Ain't no chance. You need to go back up to the prison. Carol find ya earlier?" Daryl asked her, making the woman cross her arms over her chest.

"What? No? Should she have? I can help you guys out. I can't go back into our cellblock anyways." She reasoned.

"Says who?" Daryl asked sharply.

"Says Caleb and everyone else. Neither can y'all. We've been exposed." She explained, but Daryl shook his head.

"Ya need to stay away from anyone whose been 'round it too." He told her, climbing out of the grave so that he was standing on the same level as her.

"There's no point, I've been exposed as much as you have." She insisted, moving towards the man but he took a step back from her, making her frown.

"You're more vulnerable, Red. Back the hell up and listen for once in yer damn life, would ya?" Merle called out from where he stood in one of the graves, using his foot to stomp the shovel into the Earth and his prosthesis to steady the shovel as he hauled up the dirt with one arm.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"You were bit. Could still be fightin' it off for all we know, ain't ever dealt with it before. Your body could be weakened or somethin'." Daryl told her and it was only then that Amity fell quiet, considering his words.

"Then you need to stay away from me." Amity said, her voice soft. "And I need to stay away from everyone. I've been working with Caleb and everyone Cellblock D for the past hour and a half. I could give it to y'all more than you're likely to give it to me."

Daryl shook his head at that, wanting nothing more than to reach out to the woman who was obviously distraught over the thought of not being able to do anything around the prison. He knew that it wasn't concern for herself, which was something that frustrated him to no end.

"He should have known better than to keep exposin' ya. He's a damn doctor." He griped, the doctor giving him more reasons to hate him everyday, but Amity shook her head.

"I insisted. He must not have considered the bite, there was a lot going on." She defended her friend and Daryl opened his mouth to snap back at her but was cut off by the sound of Maggie yelling his and Rick's name.

Turning towards the yelling woman, all four of the people around the graves watched as the fence began to be pushed inwards by walkers pressed against it.

"Oh _shit_." Rick cursed and Merle scrambled out of the grave he was in as Daryl yanked up his crossbow and began running behind Rick and Amity who had already taken off towards Maggie.

"The noise drew 'em out and now this part's starting to give!" Maggie yelled out, gesturing to the area of the fence that was buckling under the weight of the walkers.

Amity snatched a crowbar from where they hung on the fence to be used by the fence crew and rushed over to where the fence was bulging out, quickly beginning to stab walkers through the head that were pressed against the chainlink.

"This isn't going to hold for long!" Amity called over her shoulder, stabbing another walker through the face.

She stabbed until her arms ached, until she wasn't seeing anything except the skull that was her next target.

"Are you seeing this?" She heard from off to the side, Sasha's voice ringing loud and clear over the walker's snarls.

Amity looked over to see the woman staring at something on the ground.

"Is someone feeding these things?" Sasha asked, looking at them all with wide eyes.

That was a scary thought- someone on the inside trying to sabotage them, but what would anyone on the inside gain from the fences coming down?

"Heads up!" Daryl yelled suddenly, gaining the attention of everyone as the fence began to cave in once again.

"This part of the fence, now!" Sasha yelled as the group piled up against the chainlink.

Amity braced herself against the fence, using the crowbar as a small barrier between herself and the walker's chomping teeth that were likely to graze her if she wasn't careful. Not that it mattered anymore- though they were unsure if a second bite would do her in or not and no one was willing to test it.

"It's gonna give!" Amity yelled out as she was forced down under the weight, her arms shaking under the strain of holding up the fence.

"Everybody back!" Daryl demanded, his arm looping around Amity's waist to drag her back without a second thought on the matter. He wanted her out of harm's way and as they stepped back, she looked over at him with a raised brow.

"I could infect you." She told him, her words coming between gasping breaths.

"I ain't gettin' sick by nothin', 'specially not your scrawny ass." Daryl told her.

"Then you won't get me sick." Amity stated simply.

"The fence keeps bending in like that, those walkers are coming over it." Sasha told them all, regaining everyone's attention.

"Daryl, get the truck. I know what to do." Rick demanded suddenly and the hunter looked at him for only a moment before nodding and taking off.

As Rick and Daryl loaded up the piglets, the stars of Rick's plan, Amity stayed on the fence between Merle and Glenn. They kept working, stabbing at the walkers through the holes in the chainlink until the Jeep they had, driven by Daryl and pulling a trailer with Rick and the piglets in it, pulled out of the prison and around to the fence.

The engine alone caught the attention of many of the walkers, the masses clearing as they began to stumble away.

Once Rick had set his real plan into motion though, slicing the leg of one of the piglets and dropping it as walker chow before driving out bit further and repeating, the crew that was clearing the fence had a chance to begin bracing it to hold up against the walkers again.

"Hoo-wee, that was some ass puckerin' shit, right there." Merle said, laughing wildly next to Amity as he helped the redhead kick a log into place.

The woman tried to keep it in, but she couldn't help the laugh that fell from her lips to accompany his at his wild way of putting things.

"You're insane." Amity told him, turning to the older Dixon as she wiped her palms off on her jeans.

"That an official diagnosis, Shrink?" Merle asked her, not being able to resist teasing the woman.

Narrowing her eyes at him, Amity pursed her lips before shrugging.

"I don't have to make an official diagnosis for that one. Everyone around here knows that your head isn't on quite straight." She taunted, yelping as the large man reached out and grabbed her in a headlock.

"Get off of me, Dixon!" Amity called out, struggling against him but not breaking free. She heard the other three around them laughing at her misfortune and she dug her heels into the ground to brace herself from being pulled along by the older man.

"I will kick your balls up into your throat, Merle! Let me go! You _stink_ \- do you even shower?" She ranted, before giving up on being nice and jamming the heel of her boot into his shin.

She was abruptly let go, Merle making a noise of pain and anger as he lifted his leg up to his hand to give it a light rub.

"What the hell, Red?" He asked angrily, but Amity just smirked over at him.

"That's what you get. I warned you." She told him, turning tail and running a few paces away when he swiped at her.

Once the fence was up and properly braced again, Amity strolled a circuit around the inside of the fences while everyone went back up.

She didn't have a place to go in the prison and she wasn't ready to hear the argument around why she should be in one place or another, so instead she stood out looking at the forest and feasting walkers until the smell of smoke reached her.

Turning, Amity spotted the old pig pen and saw that it was the thing that was burning. Noting Rick standing alone beside of it, the woman decided that it was an intentional burn, but the look on Rick's face had her wandering through the gates and across the yard towards him.

"This is a _very_ symbolic moment you're playing out, Chief." Amity said as she approached, alerting the man to her presence before she joined him.

They both looked at the burning wood for a long moment before the redhead turned to him.

"I know you thought that this was where you belonged- the farm that is, and I know that it's where you _want_ to belong, but we can't fight against who we are, Rick." Amity said, holding the gaze of the man that she had become so close with as he grieved and she fought to keep his mind in reality.

"If that's who I am..." Rick began, but trailed off as he looked back at the burning wood.

"Then there is nothing wrong with that." Amity finished, obviously surprising him as his head whipped around to look at her. "All of this-" She began, gesturing towards the farm land in front of them. "-this repenting for your sins or changing who you are or whatever the hell it is that you're trying to do- it's unnecessary, Rick. You're a _good_ man. You are. I know you don't think it and I know that it's been hard on you making the calls when we were out there and in the beginning of our time here, but you did everything that you could do all of the time."

Taking a breath, Amity reached out and rested her hand against his upper arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You don't have to change who you are to be better, Cap. You're good as you are. This world requires different things out of us now, but that doesn't make you bad. If you're doing things with the right things in mind, the right intentions, and not just taking the easy way out, then you're doing what you can."

Dropping her hand and knocking her shoulder with his, Amity offered the man a kind smile.

"Only thing anyone can expect of someone is for them to do what they can." She reasoned, turning to head back up to the prison and find where she would be placed for however long.

"Burn that shirt too, Rick. I'm not looking to catch my death and I'd hate it if you did either. Carl'd be a little shit to take care of." Amity called over her shoulder as she walked away, hearing him let out a snort behind her that brought a smile to her lips.

Pausing just before she reached the doors of the prison, Amity cleared her throat once then twice when she found that it was scratchier than she expected.

 _Probably from the smoke._

Reaching for the handle, Amity's fingers had just wrapped around it when she realized that she still didn't know where to go within the prison and took a step back, looking at the door with a fair amount of consideration.

"Amity!" She heard from behind her, Rick apparently having walked up on her thinking session.

"What are you doing?" He wondered, moving to stand next to her and the woman shrugged, turning to look at him then pausing and raising a brow as she took in his state of undress.

"Put a shirt on, Sheriff. Hell, no one asked for this- my innocent virgin eyes." Amity joked, her voice rasping out in a way that had Rick frowning.

"You feeling okay?" He asked, ignoring her teasing and she nodded.

"I'm fine, just need something to do, somewhere to go. Can't be with the easily infected because I was exposed and I can't be with Cellblock D because I could be further exposed." She explained her dilemma and he nodded slowly.

"I'll talk to Hershel about where you can go. In the meantime, why don't you head to wherever they've put Karen and David?" Rick suggested and Amity nodded her head.

"Don't go in the cells and risk the exposure. Just check in on if they're needin' anything." He clarified and she nodded again.

"Sounds good, Cap. Go get dressed before the housewives of the apocalypse jump ya." She directed him, laughing and hopping out of the way as he went to swat her arm.

It took her little time to find her way to the cells that Caleb had mentioned Karen and David being put in to rest and hopefully recover. She strode quickly down the corridor, only coming to a stop when she spotted a smear of blood against the concrete outside of the cells that she had thought the two were in.

The corridor reeked of metal, the scent of blood overwhelming the woman as she carefully approached the cells to see that neither Karen nor David were inside, but plenty of blood was.

"What the hell?" She asked the empty corridor, her voice echoing slightly.

Following the blood trail, Amity found herself pushing outside into a small concrete courtyard where she found Tyreese kneeling between two still smoldering bodies.

"I- what the fuck happened?" She asked, her voice unsure but steady as she crossed her arms over her stomach, holding herself as she looked at the remains of who she assumed to be Karen and David.

The large man rose to his feet, coming towards Amity who immediately regarded him with caution, sensing the unsteadiness in him due to his loss.

"Ty, we're going to get to the bottom of this." Amity told him, trying to hold his gaze but he just looked at her with blank eyes.

"Find Rick... and Daryl." Amity directed, watching as he nodded then left the space.

She slowly approached the torched corpses, biting her lip as she fought against the bile threatening to rise due to the smell of burnt flesh.

Only a few minutes later, Tyreese returned with Rick, Daryl, and Carol.

As they pushed into the courtyard, Amity rose back to her feet and watched as they all joined them in small fenced in yard.

She found Daryl's eyes, nodding at his silent question of her wellbeing before she turned to face Rick.

"You found them like this?" He asked her and Tyreese.

"I was coming to check on them like you said." Amity explained.

"I came to see Karen and I saw the blood on the floor... then I smelled them." Tyreese answered.

"Somebody dragged them out here and set them on fire." He continued, his voice raising, the pain evident within it. "They killed them and set them on fire!"

A beat of silence fell between them before Tyreese turned on Rick, the aggression in his movements having Daryl dart in behind the man just in case while Amity rounded to the side, ignoring Daryl's signal for her to get back.

"You're a cop." Tyreese stated slowly, his eyes locked on Rick.

"You find out who did this and you bring 'em to me! You understand? You bring 'em to me!" He shouted.

"We'll find out who-" Daryl began, moving forward to pull the volatile man back a step but Tyreese brushed him roughly off, making Amity take a step closer.

"I need to say it again?" Tyreese growled.

"No. No, I know what you're feeling. I've been there," Rick said, using what Amity called his 'cop voice, "You saw me there. It's dangerous."

"Karen didn't deserve this." Tyreese snapped, cutting the man off.

"No." Rick agreed.

"David didn't deserve it." Tyreese cried. "Nobody does."

"Alright, man, let's-" Daryl tried again, moving to try to calm the man down but that seemed to be the snapping point for him.

In a flash, Tyreese had turned on Daryl, pushing him until he slammed up against a nearby barred door.

Rick, Carol, and Amity rushed forward to pull the angered man off but Daryl held out his hands, telling them to back off.

Amity did so, albeit slowly, as her calculating blues stayed carefully trained on Tyreese, watching his every twitch. If she thought he was going to hurt the hunter she would intervene whether Daryl wanted her to or not.

"We're on the same side, man." Daryl told him, voice surprisingly calm for someone that had been shoved up against a metal gate.

"Hey, look, I know what you're going through. We've all lost someone." Rick began, trying to talk the man down. "We know what you're going through right now, but you've got to calm down."

He reached out for him, trying to pull him away from Daryl and Tyreese turned on Rick like a caged animal, shoving him back.

"You need to step the hell back!" He yelled.

Rushing between them, Amity placed herself between Rick and Tyreese, almost daring the large man to try to bowl her over.

"She wouldn't want you being like this." Rick tried again and Tyreese lunged forward, pushing past Amity and sending her stumbling a couple of steps so that he could slam a fist into the side of Rick's face while Carol screamed at him to stop.

In response to the punch, Amity darted forward once she had regained her balance and shoved the volatile man back a step, using every bit of strength she had to send him stumbling backwards like he had done to her.

"Tyreese, calm the hell down!" Amity snapped at him, bracing herself as he went to lunge towards her once again, Rick having risen to his feet behind her but Daryl immediately wrapped his arms around the man, stopping him from going anywhere near his friend and woman.

"That's enough!" She heard Daryl tell him, but she was focused on Rick who was now brushing by her.

"Rick-" She began, her voice low with warning but without any hesitation the former sheriff delivered a punch to the side of the grieving man's face.

"Rick!" She called out, stepping forward as he kicked the man once he fell, bracing himself over him to punch him again.

"Rick!" Daryl tried as well, but the man ignored them until Daryl moved to pull him off.

"Let go of me!" Rick yelled, struggling against his hold. "Let go of me!"

"Rick!" Amity yelled, getting in front of the man as Daryl wrestled him back a few steps. "This isn't you!"

She found the wild eyes of her friend, reaching out to grab his face even though every instinct in her body was telling her to get away from the threat that he had become.

"This isn't you, Rick. That out there wasn't you, but neither is this." She told him, waiting until he stopped struggling to release her hold on his jaw.

A sob sounded from behind her and Amity turned, her attention stretched thin as it was, but she figured Daryl could take their friend from there as she moved to drop to her knees beside of Tyreese, the cries coming from him breaking her heart.

"You're alright, Ty." She said, her voice low and soothing in stark contrast to the firm tone she had used to call their former leader back to the present and back into his right mind.

"We'll figure this out, Ty." She soothed, reaching out to smooth a hand down his arm.

* * *

 **Just wanted to take a moment to thank my regular reviewers! A big thanks to blouwoods, lalilou10, and purple-pygym-puff16! I love reading y'all's reviews and really appreciate them and you!**

 **That being said, I do adore _all_ reviews so be sure to leave one letting me know what you think about Amity's story thus far and what you're hoping to see in the future!**

 **I've got some big big plans in store for you lot. xx**


	31. Chapter 31

While Amity had been searching for a place to go, it turned out that her new place was moving alongside of Tyreese.

The man had just suffered a terrible loss, as had many people in the prison, but at least they had answers as to what had taken their loved ones away and why- Tyreese was left in the dark and he was angry.

Quietly, Amity had followed the grieving man as he made his way out to the graveyard site they had within the fences of the prison. She often wondered what they would do when they ran out of space, but upon deciding that was an unnecessarily morbid thought to be having, she had pushed that concern aside.

She watched as Tyreese grabbed a shovel, stabbing it roughly into the packed earth with a grunt of effort. He stabbed out an area that would be large enough for the grave and then he got to digging.

Amity left him in peace as he shoveled away the first layer of dirt, taking a seat on the ground nearby as she watched him work.

"You're still bleeding." Amity commented, unsure whether or not he would acknowledge her words.

The man kept digging, the loud grunts of exertion letting her know that he was putting more force behind his efforts than he needed to. He was trying to work away the pain he was feeling.

It was understandable, though perhaps not the most effective in the end, but what else did she expect him to do? Talking out his feelings kumbaya style was not something that she often found people willing to do in the old world, and definitely not in the new one.

"Can I help?" She asked after another moment of silence.

This time, her words caught the man's attention and she waited as he eyed her, his dark eyes not the kind open ones that she remembered from the usually gentle giant of a man. They were wild and unsettling, nothing she hadn't dealt with before, even within the very walls of the prison in which they currently resided.

Finally, the man gave a nod and Amity returned it with a gentle smile, pushing herself to her feet and grabbing one of the other shovels. She moved over next to the man and mentally plotted out the grave that she would be excavating before she dug the spade into the ground.

They worked in silence for a long while, only the sounds of Tyreese's loud grunts and Amity's softer exhalations being heard between them until footsteps approached and Amity glanced around, expecting it to be Daryl, Merle, or Michael coming to make sure Tyreese hadn't snapped her in two yet, but instead it was Bob.

"Let's get you cleaned up, man." Bob said, crouching down between the two graves that held Amity and Tyreese within them.

The former military medic looked over at Amity, his eyes questioning but she just shook her head. Tyreese wouldn't budge until he settled what he felt he needed to do, she knew that, but she'd let Bob give it a go.

"You might even need a couple stitches." The man pointed out.

"Not until they're in the ground." Tyreese told them, shoveling another spadeful of dirt and looking over briefly to check Amity's progress as he had been since she started digging.

"You should at least let Hershel or Dr. S take a look at you, make sure nothing's broken." Bob tried again, but Tyreese dismissed him.

"When they're in the ground." He repeated firmly, fixing Bob with a look before he continued to shovel.

The man stayed crouched between them for a few moments longer before he rose to his feet and moved to grab another one of the shovels, hopping down to join Amity in her hole a moment later as her's was definitely shallower than Tyreese's.

Looking at him, Amity waited until his eyes rose to her's before she gave him a nod and a small pressed smile. They couldn't get Tyreese inside, but they could be there beside of him.

Hopefully it would be enough.

* * *

Amity had been walking up to the prison when she heard the news about Sasha and Caleb.

The virus was sweeping through the prison and dropping able-bodied people like flies. Everyone was on edge, even the action of clearing your throat was regarded with wariness.

When Daryl had collected her and pulled her into a council meeting, Amity knew that it was getting critical. Everyone capable and trusted were being looked to for solutions at that point.

With Caleb out of commission, it was just herself, Hershel, and Carol with any type of medical training at all.

"It's spread." Hershel told the group once everyone had settled.

Around the table, Amity was sat between the Dixons while Carol, Hershel, and Glenn sat nearby with Michonne and Michael deciding to stand along the back wall to keep their distance from those who were exposed.

"Everyone who survived the attack in cell block D- Sasha, Caleb, and now others." Hershel listed off and Amity dropped her head into her hands, pushing her fingers through her hair as she fought against the worry for her friends.

"Oh, Jesus." Daryl said, voice low.

"So what do we do?" Carol asked.

"First things first. Cell block A is isolation. We keep the sick people there like we tried with Karen and David." Hershel directed.

"What the hell we gonna do about that?" Daryl asked.

"A couple of our own murdered and barbecued like damn pigs, that's somethin' that needs to be fixed." Merle added.

"We'll ask Rick to look into it. Try to make a timeline of who was where when." Carol replied easily. "But what are we gonna do to _stop_ this?"

"There is no stopping it." Hershel told them. "You get it, you have to go through it."

"But it just kills you?" Michonne pointed out.

"Can't do a thing but wait for it to take whoever it's gonna?" Michael asked.

"The illness doesn't kill anyone. The symptoms do." Hershel explained and Amity nodded. It was like Caleb had said- soda can.

"We need antibiotics." Amity said, sitting back in her chair as she considered that thought.

"We've been through every pharmacy nearby." Daryl said softly. "And then some."

"That veterinary college at West Peachtree Tech, that's one place people may not have thought to raid for medication." Hershel said, the older man apparently already having a plan for it all. "The drugs for animals there are the same we need."

"That's 50 miles." Daryl noted. "Too big a risk before, ain't now. I'm gonna take a group out. Best not waste any more time."

The hunter rose to his feet as he spoke, gathering up his crossbow and readying himself to make a quick exit.

"I'm in." Michonne spoke up from the back, Michael looking over at her like she'd lost her mind.

"You haven't been exposed, Daryl has." Michael reminded her. "You get in a car with him-"

"He's already given me fleas." Michonne cut across his words, patting the former ranch hand's arm to soothe him as Carol shifted in her seat.

"I'm in too." Amity spoke up, breaking whatever weird tension she felt was forming.

"If you're both goin' then I am." Michael spoke up but Hershel shook his head.

"No, I need you and Merle here. We need some muscle in case things go South quicker than we're ready for." The older man reasoned, causing both the eldest Dixon and the eldest Walker to nod their heads, conceding to a good point when they saw it.

"I can lead the way." Hershel continued, interjecting a bit of the tension back into the space. "I know where everything's kept."

"When we're out there, it's always the same." Daryl told the man, words slow as if he regretted saying them. "Sooner or later we run."

"I can draw you a map." Hershel conceded with a sigh.

With that, Amity rose to her feet as well and went to follow Daryl out of the room with Michonne at her back.

"There are other precautions I feel we should take." Hershel spoke up, stopping the small group.

"Like what?" Carol asked.

"There's no telling how long it'll be before Daryl and his group return. Wouldn't it make sense for us to separate the most vulnerable?" Hershel questioned the room. "We can use the administration building. Separate office, separate room."

"Who is the most vulnerable?" Glenn asked.

"The very young." Hershel replied.

"What about the old? Glenn questioned in return, silence falling over the space.

"The very young. The old. The immune compromised." Merle listed off and Amity looked over at the man with a raised brow, surprised by his show of knowledge though neither Daryl, Carol, or Hershel looked as impressed.

"Gotta get goin'." Daryl announced, nodding Michonne and Amity towards the exit as he decided that the topic was one that could be settled by the group left behind.

"See ya on the flip side, little brother. Watch the princess." Merle called after him, getting a nod in return from the younger of the pair while Amity rolled her eyes.

"Watch your asses, Bug, Mich." Michael called out from behind them as they ducked out of the room as well.

"Always do, Cowboy." Michonne responded with a smile thrown over her shoulder while Amity simply blew him a kiss before the trio disappeared into the hallway.

Going their separate ways, Amity and Daryl headed to their cell to collect what they needed for their run.

"Ya feelin' okay?" Daryl asked as they climbed the stairs, not shying away from the glare the woman turned on him for his question.

"Just askin', girl. Don't bite my damn head off." He grumbled, holding aside the sheet in front of their door so that Amity could duck in before him.

"I know, I'm sorry." Amity sighed as she grabbed her book bag from under the bed. "This whole thing has just got me on edge. Scared of getting sick, scared of you getting sick. Scared of losing more people."

A grunt of agreement came from where Daryl was packing up his things and the woman figured that was the most she was going to get in way of response right then.

"This run's gotta be fast. I'm talking light speed. With Caleb sick... and Sasha- we can't lose them." Amity said, throwing her bag onto her back and picking up her bow.

Once situated, she turned to find him already at the door of the cell waiting for her.

"We ain't gonna." Daryl said, his confident words being enough to at least soothe over the anxiety that was coursing through the woman.

He reached out for her, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze before nodding towards the door.

"Light speed." He said, urging her on and Amity stepped out of the cell just to almost smack into Bob.

"Y'all will need an extra hand out there." The man said, looking between Amity and Daryl expectantly.

Daryl considered him for a long moment before looking over to Amity, raising a brow at the woman who nodded her agreement.

"Welcome aboard, explorer!" Amity chirped, pulling a snort from the hunter at her side.

"Damn weirdo." He grumbled, the redhead smiling in spite of his words as she gently shoved Bob along.

"Got get your things, meet us out by the cars." She directed before turning and jogging to catch up with her partner.

"You say weirdo, everyone else says god-like." Amity told him once she was walking at his side once more.

She was happy to pull an eye roll from the man with her words, the corners of his mouth twitching up as they exited the prison and went over towards the car that Daryl had apparently deemed usable for their trip.

A car that had Amity's chest clenching at the sight.

She remembered spotting it through the pharmacy window of a CVS all those months ago.

"You think that this is punishment for me surviving the bite?" Amity wondered suddenly after a few moments of leaning against the side of the car while Daryl fiddled around under the hood.

"What?" Daryl asked, sounding unhappy as he stood up from what he was doing to look at her like she had just suggested that God was punishing them- oh wait.

"The balance of life and all that, Daryl." Amity said, trying to explain her thoughts. "The bite is a sure thing, no one is supposed to survive it. If you're bitten somewhere that can't be hacked off then you're done-zo. I wasn't."

"And ya think that now the balance of life is pickin' off people because of it?" Daryl asked, trying to understand where in the hell his woman's brain was at.

A lot of the time, the two of them were on the same wavelength. They both focused on getting shit done and taking care of people. They didn't take shit from anyone, including each other. But then sometimes her mind to her to a place that Daryl was sure he would never be able to follow- sometimes it was due to the education and sheer intelligence that she possessed, but sometimes it was due to some of her more fantastical ideas.

"Yeah, out of spite." Amity replied and the hunter shook his head.

"That's stupid." He told her flatly, causing the woman to purse her lips in response.

"People are gettin' sick because there's a virus or whatever the hell Hershel and Doctor Fuckface decided it was, not because you lived." Daryl ranted, moving closer to her as if that would drill his words through her head and make them stay there.

"You shouldn't call Caleb names, he's sick." Amity said, voice softer as she seemed to be considering Daryl's other words though she only addressed his harsh words towards her friend.

"Bein' sick don't make him any less of an asshole." He reasoned, looking at her for a long moment as she thought quietly to herself.

Reaching out to her, Daryl gently cupped her face between his rough palms, his thumbs ghosting over her cheekbones as he took the time to hold her eyes before pressing a kiss to her forehead and then her lips. He wished he could hop into her head sometimes and get a peek at what floated around up there. It'd make it a hell of a lot easier for him to know what to say and do when it came to her, but for now he settled for simply trying to comfort her the best that he could.

He whole-heartedly believed that he wasn't good at the emotional shit that came with caring for people.

Amity was pulled from her own thoughts when Daryl's eyes suddenly moved from hers and off to the side, watching someone else walk up before greeting them as his hands dropped from her face.

"I'm glad you're here." Daryl said and Amity turned to see that it was Michonne who had approached.

"Where else would I be?" The woman wondered, looking between the two and knowing that she interrupted something.

Amity wasn't upset though and instead she simply went back to leaning on the car, listening to the pair talk as she was exhausted with trying to sort through her own mind.

"Running off." Daryl stated.

"You know I'm not running off." Michonne told him firmly and Amity decided keeping her mouth firmly shut was the best course of action for her as they stared one another down.

"So it's just gonna be us three like in the old days?" Michonne asked after the brief silent exchange between her and the hunter.

"Yeah, and Bob." Daryl replied, turning his attention back to the engine he had been fiddling with before Amity's train of thought took him away from it. "Still feels like we could use another person."

"Who else isn't sick?" Michonne asked.

"We don't ask Rick." Daryl stated. "He wants to stay here with Carl and Little Ass-Kicker. Keep them safe, plus there's plenty of stuff he could do here."

"So who else we got?" Michonne questioned.

Amity looked between Daryl and the swordswoman, her mind considering every able-bodied person that she didn't know to be sick before she pushed off of the car, moving around the front and pausing just behind Daryl.

"I know a guy." She said, gesturing for him to follow her.

After checking the cellblock and yard and finding no sign of the man she was seeking, Amity only had one more guess to his whereabouts.

Approaching Cellblock A, the woman frowned lightly when she spotted Tyreese where she had thought he would be.

"Oh, there you are." Amity said softly.

"Took us damn near forever to find ya." Daryl added, taking a moment to consider the man.

"Whatcha doing?" He asked.

"Somebody needs to stand watch." Tyreese stated, his voice holding a fair amount of contempt.

"Man, I want to find them, too. Put a bolt in them for what they did." Daryl said, his words making Amity shift slightly in place though she couldn't really hold his thoughts on the matter against him.

Whoever had torched Karen and David were murderers, plain and simple.

But was anything ever that black and white?

They had murdered them, yes, but perhaps their actions were born out out of trying to save the rest of the prison? It hadn't worked, but with those intentions, did the action warrant the same punishment? Amity wasn't sure, and she didn't hold the responsibility of deciding as much either.

"These people are cut off." Daryl continued, pulling her from her thoughts as he addressed Tyreese. "Ain't no way anyone's getting in and out without a whole buncha people seeing 'em."

"Sasha's in there. I ain't going nowhere." Tyreese replied simply.

"Standin' guard ain't gonna do no good unless we come back with them meds." Daryl pointed out.

Tyreese turned from them nonetheless, his hands braced against the door of the cellblock as he peered through the window to the sick that laid beyond it. The sick that included his sister, and Amity's good friend and another who she considered a brother, since they had found out Glenn had been added to the list of the sick.

"Alright." Amity said gently after another long moment of silence.

She exchanged a look with Daryl, telling the man that they had to just leave the option open and the hunter nodded his head.

"We're gassin' up by the front gate in case you change your mind." He told the other man before dropping a hand to Amity's lower back, leading her back down the corridor from which they came.

"I thought he'd be for it." Amity said, almost sighing as they stepped back outside and headed towards the car they were taking.

"He might still show." Daryl told her, showing a bit of optimism that had Amity nodding her head, walking close enough to the man that their arms brushed with every step.

"Light speed." Amity chirped as they approached the vehicle, the previous sight of the cell with the sick making her stomach churn uneasily.

Moments later Amity and Daryl found themselves at the front gate as they loaded the car up and got ready to fill the tank. Amity leaned against the vehicle, choosing to watch Daryl as he moved around with a purpose that she was having a hard time finding right then. The scraping sound of worn soles on pavement had her turning to spot Bob approaching them.

"Everything look all right?" He asked and Amity nodded.

"Yep, Zach doted on this damn car. Michael as well." Amity told him, shaking her head with a sad but fond smile playing over her lips.

"This is Zach's car?" Bob asked, sounding uncomfortable.

"Yeah, fastest one we got." Daryl answered, now rounding the car to join them.

Bob was fixed under two narrowed blue-eyed gazes as the couple regarded him for a moment.

"You alrigh'?" Daryl finally asked.

"You really want me coming along?" Bob asked in return, the question having Amity tilting her head a bit, wondering why he would think that they didn't.

Daryl, however, dug a piece of paper out of his back pocket and held it out to Bob, pointing at the first word on the list.

"What's that word?" He asked the man.

"Zanamivir." Bob replied immediately.

"Yup, we need you." Daryl stated and Amity snorted.

 _He has a point._

Daryl eyes flickered beyond Amity and Bob, fixating on something else in a way that had the woman twisting around until she spotted Tyreese stalking towards them.

"What's up?" Daryl asked the man as he approached.

"Still got room for one more?" Tyreese questioned, looking between the archer and Amity as he did so.

"Hell yeah." Daryl told him, Amity nodding for good measure when the man's eyes turned to her.

"Good." Tyreese said with a nod of his own. "Just got to get my gear."

"Be quick about it, please." Amity requested, getting another nod in return before the man was off towards the prison once more.

It took only another half an hour before they we're all loaded up in Zach's vehicle, but even that amount of time had Amity fidgeting in the passenger seat while Daryl drove.

The car was silent, everyone in their thoughts and it was enough to have her nerves on edge without the stress of their speed on top of it all.

"Girl, stop yer damn squirmin' around." Daryl snapped, his voice lacking heat but Amity still turned an icy glare his way.

"Don't gimme that." He scoffed once he glanced over and spotted it, causing Amity to stick her tongue out at him for good measure.

"It's too damn quiet." Amity grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and silence fell within the vehicle again.

The man regarded her out of the corner of his eye as she still fidgeted before finally reaching out a hand over the center console for her to take. She looked at him with a bit of surprise, more than used to and accepting of his tendency to shy away from any sort of affection in front of others, but she wouldn't argue with his offer and quickly uncrossed her arms and threaded her fingers through his, giving his hand a grateful squeeze which he returned.

Daryl finally spoke up after a few minutes and broke the silence that had descended on the car yet again, his blue eyes trained on the rearview mirror so that he could see Michonne who was squeezed almost humorously between Ty and Bob in the back seat.

"Hey, I know you weren't running off." He said, getting her attention though she avoided making any eye contact with him. "The thing is, that trail went cold. Ya know that, right? If it was any different, I'd be right out there with ya."

"I've got the Cowboy already, don't need a Redneck too." Michonne told him, briefly holding his gaze before turning it away from him.

Amity felt the tension like it was a physical thing, and as much as she wanted to try to break it, she kept her mouth shut and let it be.

Daryl, however, seemed to be over the silence as well as he pulled his hand from Amity's and leaned forward to mess with the radio dial, making the redhead roll her eyes.

"Are you expecting some subpar radio DJ to come on?" Amity asked him, looking over with a teasing smile.

"Just hand me one of them damn CDs." Daryl replied, pointing to the dashboard as he continued to fiddle with the dial.

 _"Find sanctuary."_ A voice crackled over the static of the radio, the sound making Amity's eyes widen in shock.

"Was that a voice?" Bob asked, leaning forward expectantly.

"Shh." Amity and Daryl shushed him at the same time.

 _"-determined to survive"_ The radio stated as Daryl fiddled with the dial, trying to keep the signal. _"-keep alive."_

Amity's attention was so fixated on the voice coming through the radio that she didn't even notice the walker crowded road ahead of them until Daryl was cursing and tugging at the wheel.

The car swerved sharply, Amity hearing grunts of pain from the backseat as the trio were smashed against one another. She grabbed the overhead handle to brace herself as another walker smacked off the front hood.

"Are you _trying_ to hit them?" Amity squeaked out, her voice pathetically high-pitched in her panic as Daryl pressed on the breaks and brought them to a stop, the road ahead of them crawling with the undead.

"Shit." She cursed upon taking in the sight, her hand immediately reaching over for Daryl once again. She grasped his upper arm, jumping slightly when a walker pressed itself against her window with a loud thunk.

"Grab something!" Daryl yelled suddenly, his muscles flexing under Amity's palm as he threw the car in reverse, twisting in his seat to peer out the back window.

Amity kept her eyes on the road in front of them, watching the walker horde that was so large she could barely fathom it.

Why were there so many damned people on Earth when it went to shit?

"Go to the left!" Michonne directed from the back seat.

The engine revved loudly as Daryl pressed down the gas, the car shaking slightly with the effort but they were going nowhere.

"We're jammed up." The archer announced before turning to look at Amity, his hand raising to grasp her chin and make her eyes hold his.

"Make a run for the gaps right there. Don't stop, don't look back." He told her, voice serious and Amity had to nod. There was no time to waste with disagreeing.

"You three-" Daryl began, twisting around in his seat so that he could address their companions. "-you make a run for the woods and you don't stop for nothin', you hear me?"

Getting more nods of confirmation, Daryl looked over to Amity once more before yelling, "Now! Move!" and punching through the sunroof.

Amity slammed open the car door with all of her strength, pressing the walkers that were against it back so that she could slam her machete into the sides of their heads.

She heard the familiar twang of Daryl's crossbow as it fired, the sound an empty comfort as she focused on dodging the walkers that were practically waltzing right by her once she lowered her machete.

It was a mind-blowing experience, watching the walkers brush past without a second look her way. It was so strange that it had the woman pausing for a moment, Daryl and Michonne quickly catching up to her by the edge of the woods.

"Ty!" She heard Bob yell from up the incline towards the road.

Turning her attention to the two men still at the car, Amity's eyes widened when she realized that Tyreese was still just sitting in the car.

"Ty!" Bob yelled again, seemingly snapping the man out of his state as Tyreese quickly moved from the car and slammed his weapon into a walker's skull that was just behind the former Army medic.

"Go!" Tyreese yelled at the other man as he continued to slaughter the walkers around him, his words confusing Amity as the man had an opening to run to them as well.

"Come on and get me!" The man yelled out and that's when it clicked in Amity's mind.

"Ty, no." She said, more to herself than anyone else and she had only a second to weigh out her options before darting forward towards the man.

"Amity!" Daryl's rough yell came from behind her, but Amity ignored him, needing to focus on the task at hand and that was getting to Tyreese.

"Go!" She called over her shoulder, knowing that Daryl was lingering on the edge of the woods.

As walkers pressed down the hill, Daryl was forced to retreat into the trees. Amity had moved at the last second, leaving no opening for him to follow without getting a chunk tore out of him while she could simply dart between the damned things.

Michonne and Bob tugging at his arms was what really forced him to turn and lead them into the woods, cutting down lingering walkers as they went.

Amity all but danced her way over to Tyreese as she ducked and dodged walkers as if they were simply obstacles in a course and not mindless murderous beasts.

"Ty!" She yelled once she was close enough to the raging and grieving man, now alerting the walkers to the fact that she wasn't one of them.

She raised her machete, stabbing it through skull after skull as she fought to keep not only herself, but also her friend, alive.

"Tyreese, Karen wouldn't have wanted this!" She called out over the walkers hungry moans. "She wouldn't have wanted you to die this way! Sasha still needs you!"

With a grunt of effort, Amity pulled her machete from a walker's skull and reached out to grab Tyreese's free arm, yanking him forward with all of her strength.

"Sasha needs you!" She yelled in his face, her anger and fear seeming to cut through his pained haze.

Pressing forward, it was now the giant of a man clearing a path ahead of them and dragging her along through it. She released his arm to help keep back the undead, hoping that he was right enough in his mind to have kept an eye on where their group had entered the woods at.

Daryl turned around once the trio he was a part of reached a clearing, the undead trailing behind them not being enough to keep him from waiting and hoping that a mess of red hair would come through the bushes.

"Hold up." He requested of the others, pressing down the fear and desperation that was clawing at his stomach as he reloaded his crossbow and raised it just as the bushes on the other side of the space began to rattle.

He swallowed down thick disappointment like a heavy pill when the tell-tale sound of walkers came from the bushes and a pair stumbled out. Stepping forward, he readied himself to take them down but before he even aimed one was smacked down and the other's skull was cleaved in half, the bodies falling away to reveal a gasping Amity and Tyreese.

Tyreese fell to his knees at the edge of the clearing, seemingly unaware of the danger that lingered behind him and the redhead, but Daryl wasn't.

"Get him up!" He snapped at his two companions, both of them moving forward to haul Tyreese to his feet while Daryl pulled Amity tight against him for a split second before releasing and leaning down so that they were eye to eye.

"That was lookin' back, Cherry." He growled, but Amity simply pressed a kiss to his dirty forehead before shoving his chest a bit to get him back to moving, the hunter pressing her a step ahead of him with a hand to her lower back as they darted through the woods after their friends.

Eventually, they pulled ahead of the walkers, outpacing them and hopefully outrunning their attention span.

They came to a small creek with a bridge spanning across it and it seemed like as good of a place as any to take a breather and figure out where the hell they were.

"This is Turner Creek, so Barnesville must be a few miles downstream." Michonne told them, leaning over the map with Daryl and Bob while Amity sat on the edge of the bridge, her feet dangling over the edge as she watched Tyreese scrub the blood out of his shirt in the water below.

"Sounds like our best chance at finding a new ride." Bob noted.

She felt a nudge against her knee and looked up to see Daryl looking down at her, face tight with concern and a bit of anger.

Amity offered him the best pressed smile that she could muster, reaching over to gently lay a hand against his calf, leaning a bit into his leg before she dropped her gaze back to the troubled man by the creekside.

"Yo, Ty!" Daryl yelled out suddenly. "Come on, let's go. _Vámonos_."

With that, Daryl offered a hand down to Amity who considered it a moment before placing her slender hand into his larger rougher one. Once she pulled her legs up from where they dangled, he tugged her to her feet with one easy pull.

"You stay with me." The man told her sternly, his voice low and gruff as he cast a look over to Tyreese who hadn't even looked up from his task of wringing out his shirt. "Can't bring someone outta it at the risk of yourself."

The couple held one another's gazes for a long moment, seemingly squaring off to anyone on the outside, but they were simply coming to an understanding and finally Amity nodded.

She moved ahead with Daryl and Michonne, the hunter not even letting her fall a single step behind him, while Bob lingered in an attempt to talk to his friend.

They had been walking for a while when the group finally stumbled upon something that wasn't an old open road and more trees. Glancing up at the sign, Amity noted that the place was an old car shop and was thankful for the find. Maybe now they could get a move on and she could stop awkwardly trying to avoid Michonne and Daryl's small argument over the woman's tendency to leave while simultaneously trying to subtly keep Tyreese on track.

Daryl hesitated at a large fallen tree, the branches covering a large portion of the outside of the shop and blocking off the front of it.

"You see something?" Bob asked, wandering up next to Daryl and Amity who had slowed once the hunter had.

"I don't know. Maybe." Daryl said, moving forward to tug away the branches with their help and revealed a car that looked like it would work well enough once they got it running.

"I'll try to get her started. Y'all clear her off." The archer directed and Amity helped him tear away the branches in order for him to climb inside the car before turning and helping the others clear it off.

After a few minutes of hauling, they had the front of the car uncovered and Daryl was climbing out of the passenger's side, slamming the door shut behind him.

"We gotta find us a new battery." He told them and Amity held back a sigh, turning to look at the shop.

They'd have to hack a way through the tree limbs and vines that had overgrown the place if they had a hope of getting inside.

A loud snarl from nearby had the redhead jumping, her hand immediately going for her machete since her bow was draped over her back, but she quickly realized the walker was trapped inside behind a dirty window.

"Got some friends inside." Daryl noted, wandering over to Amity who looked at him expectantly.

"We need that battery." He told her, voice low and the woman nodded.

"Let me go in first, help me cut away the vines, but I can get in without being bothered." She said, but Daryl shook his head.

"Not a chance." He told her, making the woman huff at his difficult attitude.

"They don't care about me, Sunshine. They won't bother me." Amity reasoned but the man still shook his head.

"Ain't riskin' it. Ya got backup for a reason, girl- and we still need to talk about the damn things not noticin' you anyhow." Daryl told her, moving on towards the shop and nodding the rest of their group forward.

"Come on. Let's clear a path, see how many we got." He directed.

The rest of the group joined them around the covered shop and began using their bladed weapons to hack away at the vines, hoping to find a path in.

Amity's machete did good work with cutting through the branches, but she soon faltered in her work when rough grunts sounded from nearby and she looked over to see Tyreese whacking away at the foliage with more vigor than was necessary.

"Hey, man, go easy. We don't know what we're dealing with." Daryl warned the man, but Tyreese ignored him.

Amity was taken back to the man digging graves for Karen and David outside just the day before.

"Tyreese..." Amity began, pausing in her clearing of the vines to cautiously approach the man despite Daryl's earlier words about Ty having to help himself out first.

She just couldn't watch his breakdown happen in front of her just as she couldn't watch Shane's when it had happened. Though she held onto hope that it wouldn't end in the same way that intervention had.

Before she had a chance to touch the raging man, a hand shot out of the foliage and grabbed Daryl's vest, the sound of the struggle having Amity whip around but Michonne was already there and cutting the hunter free.

Moans and snarls sounded from the vines as walkers pushed their way through them, not bothered by the tangled mess as their only endgame was to get ahold of the living on the other side of it all.

Lunging forward, Amity jabbed her machete through the head of a walker that had stumbled out with its eyes on Michonne as the swordswoman rushed to Bob's aid. The redhead dropped the creature before joining Daryl as he jabbed his hunting knife through a walker's head, leaving it hanging limp in the vines before Amity quickly checked him over, making sure that he hadn't been scratched or bit.

"I'm fine, girl. I'm okay." Daryl reassured her, tugging her along towards Tyreese who was grappling with a walker still half tangled up.

"Ty!" Daryl called out, trying to get the man's attention as they all hovered, trying to get a clear shot at the undead.

"Ty, let him go." Michonne commanded, but the man ignored them both.

"Tyreese!" Amity snapped, moving towards him just as Tyreese stumbled backwards, pulling the walker down on top of him.

Daryl darted forward, brushing past Amity in order to tug the flailing walker off of Tyreese, slamming it to the ground and leaving it for Bob to put a bullet through its skull.

"Why the hell didn't you let go?" Michonne snapped at Tyreese once he was on his feet, his chest heaving as his eyes looked blankly ahead of him.

Amity shifted her weight from foot to foot before joining him, standing at his side and looking up until she met his gaze.

"Sasha needs you, Tyreese, and right now we all need you." Amity told him, her words slow but firm. "I didn't risk my life to get you back to us for you to throw it away and potentially sabotage this trip. I have friends who are sick back in the prison- your sister is one of them."

With that, Amity let her sternness fall away for a moment as she rested a hand against one of the man's broad arms, giving it a gentle squeeze before turning back to the shop and helping to finish cutting away the vines that covered it.

Once it was clear, Amity pulled her bow around to rest comfortably in her hands, the weapon having become all but an extension of herself since the world went to the walkers.

She followed closely behind Daryl as they pushed inside, feeling comfortable with Bob watching her back but also on alert due to the walkers that had stumbled out prior.

"Come on." Daryl requested, leading their temporary trio into the back room of the shop, seeming to immediately spot what he was looking for.

"Here we go." He said, lifting a battery up off of a shelf and setting it aside so that he could pop the top with his knife.

"Cells look pretty dry." Bob noted, looking over at the thing and making Amity raise a brow at him.

"A little distilled water will clear that right up." Daryl reasoned with a shrug, seemingly unconcerned but Bob had caught the redhead's look.

"What?" He wondered and Amity just shrugged.

"Nothing, just seems that everyone knows all this shit about vehicles except me." She said, grumbling a bit.

The woman hated feeling ignorant about anything, that much was clear.

Bob seemed to find her annoyance funny though as he let out a laugh while Daryl simply smirked over at her, amused with her not being the most knowledgeable person in the room for once.

"Bet you never changed your oil yourself before everything, did you?" Bob asked her, his smile simply growing when Amity narrowed her eyes at him.

"How 'bout a tire? Ever change one of 'em?" Daryl asked, adding to the teasing that Amity tried to avoid by scrunching up her nose at them then sighing as both men laughed.

"Honestly-" She began, cutting through their chuckling with a small smile on her lips though she tried to hide it. "-I ditched my car at the beginning because it ran out of gas. Didn't know what to do. Didn't know how to siphon fuel until T-Dog showed me." She admitted, feeling heat in her cheeks that had her looking away from her companions.

"Dixon, you're going to have your hands full teaching her." Bob said, continuing to laugh at Amity's expense even after the woman huffed and began to walk away from the chuckleheads.

"She's a fast learn." Amity heard Daryl say, the sound of him lifting the battery following.

They went back through the store, creeping slowly as they shined their lights on the shelves to make sure that they weren't leaving anything of value behind.

Moving forward, Amity's foot touched against the side of an empty container and sent it sliding a foot or two away. Her light turned to it and she read the label- antifreeze.

"That's puke." Daryl said from behind her, shining his flashlight on a discolored patch of floor just to the side of where she stood.

"Those douchebags in the vines took themselves out holding hands, kumbaya-style." The hunter noted, distaste obvious on his face.

Amity sighed at his words, a frown on her lips as she considered the terror and grief the people in the shop must have been feeling.

"They wanted to go out together same as they lived." Bob said. "That make them douchebags?"

The redhead knew Daryl's stance before he even spoke, but the new guy didn't know any of them that well.

"It does if they could have gotten out." Daryl stated firmly.

His words took Amity back to the CDC, the woman standing still even as the two men began to brush by her, Bob still speaking.

"Everybody makes it, 'til they don't. People nowadays are dominoes." Bob reasoned. "What they did, maybe it's about not having to watch them fall."

She remembered her resignation near the end, the way she didn't think she could make herself leave the building that was doomed to explode, but even then Daryl held onto the belief that life was worth the fight.

Since the start the man had kept her living.

Catching up to the men, Amity reached for Daryl without a word and grasped his arm. She gently squeezed him, meeting his eyes when he turned a confused look her way and offered him a gentle smile in return, fondness and appreciation so clear behind her eyes that it had the man ducking his head a bit. Heat flushed his face and neck and the hunter was grateful for the dark building that covered it.

"Right." He said, clearing his throat and ignoring the inquisitive look that Bob was giving the pair.

They continued towards the door, Amity now just behind Daryl with Bob behind her. A raspy growl had the trio cautious, but the walker they came upon was trapped under a fallen shelf.

The redhead considered it for a moment as Bob did, but Daryl's hand pressing into the small of her back kept her moving even as Bob continued to linger. She heard the sounds of the other man putting it down, but didn't say a word as they stepped out into the sunlight and crossed over to the car in hopes of getting it started back up.

"Time for your first lesson, Walker." Daryl called over his shoulder as he approached the vehicle, a cheeky grin tugging at his lips in a way that had the woman's heart skipping a beat even as she scoffed at him.

"That's Dr. Walker to you." Amity quipped back, still settling in next to the man's side as he lifted the hood up and gave it a once over.

"Scared of grease, girl?" Daryl asked her, voice teasing as she glared at him.

"I'm around you, aren't I?" She shot back, pulling a growl from the man though he couldn't hide a smile.

"Gonna get it, girl." He warned before leaning over the vehicle, feeling her eyes on him as clearly as if they were her hands.

"One thing at a time, Dixon." She said, sighing lightly before laughing and joining him in leaning in to get to work.

It only took a few minutes for Amity to deem cars as frustrating contraptions.

She stayed quiet though as she watched Daryl work, not even commenting on the cigarette that hung from his lips though it was a habit of his that she despised.

Frankly, she was too annoyed at her own lack of knowledge to bitch at him for much of anything.

He made it all look so easy.

"You were a mechanic before this, I call unfair." Amity said finally, making Daryl look at her with confusion before noting the frustration behind the woman's eyes and shaking his head at her.

"Ain't no one expectin' ya to be an expert right off the bat, Cherry." He reminded her, but that did little to placate the woman's ruffled nerves.

"Wait, you've known what he did before the turn all along?" Michonne asked from where she leaned against the wall of the shop.

"Uh, yeah?" Amity replied, eyebrows furrowed as she looked over to the woman.

"Zach was guessing _homicide detective_ and you kept a straight face while knowing he was a mechanic." Michonne said, sounding amused and impressed while Amity finally laughed, realizing what her line of thought was now.

"It was a task, let me tell you." Amity replied, grinning over at Daryl who rolled his eyes at the two women.

"Think we would have ended up like we are without everything going to shit?" Amity wondered, looking up at Daryl as he paused in his working on the engine.

He considered her for a moment as he finished his cigarette, tossing the butt to the ground before stomping on it to make sure it was out.

"Ya wouldn't have given me the time of day." Daryl told her, voice quieter as he tried to keep the others out of their conversation that had taken a more private turn.

"You can't know that." Amity replied immediately, shaking her head.

"I can and I do. Wouldn't have let ya anyhow." He said, confusing her further.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, leaning against the front bumper as he went back to work on the engine, needing something else to focus on rather than the woman at his side.

Sometimes it was easy for him to forget, to not think about how successful she was in the past, and how damn gorgeous and out of his league she was even after the damn apocalypse hit. Sometimes he could kid himself into thinking that they were anywhere on the same level, or would have been back then. She wouldn't have given his hick ass a second glance before the end of the world and he wouldn't have even blamed her.

"Forget it." Daryl snapped, pulling a sigh from the woman as she watched him retreat within himself before quickly turning the attention to Bob by telling the man, "You never told us about the group you were with before."

Bob seemed startled at the sudden attention on him, glancing at Amity as she watched Daryl speak.

"Which one?" Bob asked, sounding put out in a way that had Daryl pausing before nodding his head as if to say 'fair enough.'

"You know, when you found me out on that road, I almost kept walking." Bob continued after a moment, Amity now looking at him instead of the hunter.

"Why is that?" Daryl asked.

"'Cause I was done being a witness." Bob said. "Two times, two different groups, and I was the last one standing. Like I was supposed to see it happen over and over, like it's some kind of curse. But, when it's just you out there with the quiet..."

He trailed off for a moment before picking his story back up, avoiding Amity's eyes as she considered him with a gaze more searching than he was comfortable with.

"It used to be I'd drink a bottle of anything just so I could shut my eyes at night. Figured the prison, the people, thought it'd be easier." He explained. "The run to the Big Spot, I did it for me."

"You gotta keep busy." Daryl said, trying to understand as he took a swig of water from the bottle he had been using to pour into the radiator.

"No." Bob said firmly. "I did it so I could get me a bottle. Of anything."

His confession had Daryl whipping around to look at him while Amity nodded slowly, the pieces coming together in her mind though the picture wasn't one she liked.

"I picked it up, I held it in my hand, but I put it down. I put it down so hard it took the whole damn shelf with it. That's what brought on the walkers, and that's what got Zach killed." Bob told them.

Amity found herself struggling with being indifferent, with being understanding, but it seemed that Daryl wasn't.

"That's bullshit." The man stated, holding Bob's gaze without balking.

"Why don't you get in there and try the engine?" He continued as if the man hadn't just admitted to something he felt guilty over. "It's a red and a green wire. Go on. It ain't rocket science."

His attitude towards the situation had Amity reconsidering what she had heard and realizing that Bob's admittance came from guilt, but that didn't make him guilty.

Out there, in the new world, shit happened and it was going to continue to happen. Zach would have died with or without Bob's part in it all because that's how shit happened now, not because the man had done anything wrong.

"Give it some gas." Daryl directed, pulling Amity out of her thoughts and she pushed off the car to stand straight just as the engine roared to life and Daryl clapped his hands together.

The woman's mouth twitched up at the satisfaction on his face, giving a polite golf clap once his eyes turned to her and the action made him snort before whistling for Michonne and Tyreese to join them as they had wandered away the moment Daryl and Amity's conversation had gotten too personal. Amity was just thankful that the man had seemed to move past whatever had him snapping at her moments before, at least for now.

"Sasha and me picked that spot." Amity heard Daryl tell Bob as she crossed around to the passenger's side of the vehicle. "He took you with us. There ain't no way anybody could've known. You ain't gonna be standing alone, not no more."

* * *

They arrived at the veterinary hospital without a lot of fan fare.

The streets were nearly deserted, and Michonne, Amity, and Daryl took out any stray walkers within a second of seeing them.

"This way." Michonne directed, referring to the map only once while they wandered the streets before they came up on the correct building.

Pulling a crowbar from where it hung at her waist, Amity offered the tool towards Tyreese who eyed it for a moment before taking it and fixing it within the crease of the side door.

With a bit of strain from the man and a loud pop from the door, it swung open and they all waited until Daryl waved them inside.

Amity was so tense that her body was screaming in protest, her steps quiet and measured as they stalked down the hallway and methodically moved into the first of the rooms that Hershel had marked for them.

The sight of the cages lining the walls had her stomach turning, but she didn't pause in her movements as she swept the room for medicine before continuing on behind Daryl who was taking point for the whole operation while Michonne covered their asses.

They entered a large room lined with glass cabinets only a few tense moments later and immediately Michonne, Bob, and Amity spread out along the walls, hands sorting through the countless numbers of orange pill bottles while Tyreese and Daryl continued on to find the equipment they would need.

"Anything ending with -cillin or -cin, C-I-N, grab it." Bob directed the two women as they searched alongside him. "We'll dissolve the pills in the IVs, put 'em right into the bloodstream. Dosage will be tricky but considering the time we lost..."

Amity's sharp eyes quickly roved over the shelf in front of her, tossing bottle after bottle into the backpack she held in one hand, her small flashlight gripped between her teeth.

The noise of someone entering in the room had her turning sharply, but she continued to work upon seeing Daryl's familiar face.

"How'd you do?" Bob asked the other men.

"Bags, tubes, clamps, connectors. Everything on the list." Tyreese listed off.

"What about y'all?" Daryl questioned and Bob looked back just as Amity turned around and began to zip up her backpack, nodding as Michonne swept her light over the shelves one last time.

"Yeah, we got it all." Bob confirmed.

"Yeah, we're good." Michonne added while Amity finally took the flashlight from her mouth.

"Autobots roll out." Amity chirped and she didn't miss Daryl and Michonne's simultaneous eye rolls even as Bob chuckled at her.

They left the room with Daryl taking point once more while they moved along behind him down the darkened hallways.

A peek into a room off to the side had Daryl pushing her along in front of him, quickening his steps with the other three following faster behind them as well.

"Up ahead." Michonne directed as low groans echoed down the hallway, Daryl immediately turning into a doorway at her words.

Amity moved ahead of Daryl at Michonne's side as they both stalked through another doorway, Bob pausing to shut it behind them once they were all through but found that he couldn't.

"Hey! Door's busted." He called out to them and Daryl doubled back to help him brace it just as the walkers that had stalked them from the other room pressed against the wood.

"Shit." Amity said quietly, moving forward in search of an exit until a walker threw itself at Tyreese, the man quickly killing it and waving for them to continue.

Coming up to a set of double doors, Michonne shined her light over them as Amity dropped her bow into one hand to tug at the chain that wasn't allowing them to move forward.

"It's-" She began before leaping back as walkers pressed roughly against it from the other side, their hands reaching through the small gap the doors allowed for before the chain caught them.

"How many?" Amity asked, her voice strained but Michonne shook her head in the darkness.

"I can't tell." She replied.

Both women glanced back at the door Daryl and Bob had barred behind them, seeing that the walkers had pushed through further there.

They were stuck between a rock and a hard place and losing time fast.

"We can take 'em." Tyreese yelled suddenly, turning to the door they had come through, ready to fight.

"No!" Bob called after them. "They're infected. Same as at the prison. We fire at 'em, get their blood on us, breathe it in. We didn't come all this way to get sick."

"How do we know the ones in there are any different?" Tyreese asked.

"We don't." Michonne stated.

"Well, it's gotta change sometime." Daryl said before quickly rigging something up to break the chain. Amity stood with her bow drawn, her aim wavering between the walkers that had now pushed through the door behind them and the door that was about to be broken open in front of them.

"Ready?" The hunter called out.

"Do it!" Amity answered, letting an arrow fly as soon as the chain was broken and the first walker stumbled through. Michonne cut through two more while Daryl grappled with the last, putting it down before they pushed through to leave the other walkers chasing after them once more as they jogged up a stairwell.

Making it to the floor above, the group darted out into the hallway in time to see that their noise downstairs must have caught the attention of walkers that were milling about there. The undead stumbled down the tiled floor towards them and Amity felt herself get pulled back a step by Daryl.

"Back." He directed the group but there was nowhere to go.

"Don't have an exit." Michonne told him quickly, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Then we make one." Daryl told her, leading the way back to the big windows that were lining the wall just outside of the stairwell they had come up.

"Get down!" Tyreese yelled as Daryl crouched in the window sill, his body turning to cover Amity's head as the giant of a man tossed a fire extinguisher through the glass to open the frame for them to escape through.

"Come on, move it!" Tyreese directed, lifting Michonne up and onto the window frame just as Daryl did the same with Amity.

"Jump down to the walkway below." The hunter directed them and Amity crawled outside just after Michonne did, landing with a grace that she didn't realize she possessed.

After her came Tyreese then Daryl, who she had paused and waited for to join her, much to his displeasure.

Last through was Bob and Amity watched as he stumbled on the landing, falling onto his stomach while the bag he held dangled over the edge though he kept his grip on it. The walkers that had flooded the space below them immediately reached up for the pack, rotting hands grabbing at the fabric as they yearned for a piece of the living creatures just out of their reach.

Seeing that the man was struggling, Amity dropped her things and rushed to his side, tugging on his shirt in hopes of helping him up just as the rest of the group joined her.

"Bob, let it go." Michonne directed, but the man didn't relent.

"Bob, it's okay. Mich and I have the meds too! It's not worth it!" Amity told him, trying to make him understand that losing his pack wasn't going to be detrimental to their mission like he may have thought.

"Let go of the bag, man." Daryl snapped just before himself and Tyreese were finally able to yank him and his pack up and onto the walkway, the bag flying up and landing just next to Amity with a loud shattering noise that had her looking down at it in confusion.

She took in the shards of glass that had fallen out of the bag and swallowed down her anger just before Daryl kneeled next to her and dug a bottle from within the fabric, confirming her suspicions.

"You got no meds in your bag?" Daryl asked him, his voice a low growl that had Amity tensing, sensing his anger loud and clear as it so echoed her own. "Just this?"

The archer stared Bob down before hissing out, "You should have kept walking that day."

Tossing the bottle lightly to readjust it, Daryl lifted back his arm and got ready to chuck the offending item from the balcony when Bob's hand twitched to his gun, Amity's first instinct being to draw her own, the gun having gone untouched until that point even in the face of the walkers.

"Don't." Bob told Daryl, as he subtly threatened him and Amity let out a noise that she didn't think she was capable of making, something close to a snarl, as Daryl stalked over to him without an ounce of fear.

If he drew on the hunter, Amity knew in her gut that she wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet through his skull.

Daryl stepped up chest to chest with the fucker who put booze above their people, pressing his forehead against his in a way that immediately had the other man dropping his eyes. His submission was clear, but it wasn't enough. The hunter grasped a fistful of Bob's shirt, pressing him back a step in a way that had Tyreese moving forward with concern.

"Just let it go, Daryl. The man's made his choice. Nothing you can do about it." Tyreese called over. "Just gotta let it go."

"I didn't want to hurt nobody." Bob tried to defend himself. "It was just for when it gets quiet."

Amity resisted the urge to scoff and instead looked over and caught Tyreese's pleading gaze. It was clear that the man wouldn't put it past Daryl to toss Bob to the walkers for what he had done, and Amity knew that she wouldn't fault him for doing so in the end, but nonetheless she spoke up.

"Daryl, light speed." Amity said, not caring about the others looking at her with confusion. He knew what she meant and that was all that mattered.

The man held his threatening stance for a split second longer, pressing in on the other's space in a continued show of dominance that kept Bob balking away from him before Daryl slammed the bottle of liquor roughly against his chest.

"Take one sip before those meds get in our people, and _I will beat your ass into the ground_." Daryl snarled in his face, his words holding a promise that none of them would question when it was all said and done.

Roughly releasing him, Daryl turned and stalked back to the group, snatching up his bag and weapon before continuing on, the rest of them following without Amity even casting a look over her shoulder to make sure Bob was doing the same.

If he wanted to go to the walkers, she couldn't be arsed to convince him otherwise.

Not when there were other lives on the line.

Once back at the van, Amity paced the pavement just to the side of the vehicle, knowing that Daryl was focused on keeping his anger contained in his own way from where he sat in the passenger seat.

Michonne had volunteered to drive them back and honestly, Amity was too beat to argue against it and she felt that Daryl was too. Now, she was trying to shake the feeling of disbelief and anger from her before she had to sit in the back of the van with Bob and Tyreese.

Her usual understanding nature was out the window, her patience was shot. Amity had no compassion for those who put alcohol, or any other substance, above _people_. Above _lives_.

She knew about addiction. She knew how it worked, how it affected someone's body and mind, but even then she couldn't find it in her to excuse it or actions that occurred as a result of it. Not at the expense of those around the destructive people.

Amity knew that if she had met Merle before she actually had, that she wouldn't have been as patient with his digging through the prison mattresses. The only reason she could hold back her annoyance was because she knew there was nothing for him to find and knew that his actions would hurt himself before anyone else.

When finding Hershel in the bar, she had been caught up in the grief following the loss of Sophia and the man, again, had intended to only put himself at risk.

Bob had actively chose alcohol over medicine that could save lives of those sick and suffering back at the prison- lives of her friends and family.

Taking a deep breath, Amity resisted the urge to skewer the man in question as he approached the van. Michonne and Tyreese having apparently worked out a route home.

Stepping away, Amity waited for everyone else to pack up the vehicle, hearing Daryl's familiar drawl as he spoke with Michonne. She felt Bob's eyes on her as she paced and she fought to hold her tongue once more, her footsteps only pausing when Daryl leaned out the door to find her gaze.

"Light speed." He said simply and the woman nodded stiffly, stalking over to the van and climbing inside without a word before roughly pulling the van's sliding door to a close with a loud thud.

"Let's get home." She said sharply, only meeting Michonne's eyes briefly in the rearview mirror before the woman had the vehicle started and Amity kept her gaze on the outside world.


	32. Chapter 32

They made it back to the prison an hour or so after night had fallen and the thought of how long they had been away made Amity's stomach churn uncomfortably.

Leaning forward between Michonne and Daryl, the woman looked out the windshield and figured that it was at least a good sign that someone was there and ready to open the gates for them as they drove up.

Sitting back once more, she noticed that it was Rick, Merle, and Carl who were stood outside, but as the van pulled to a stop and she opened the sliding door, she realized that a lot had gone down while they were away.

The smell of rotting flesh all but took her breath away as her feet hit the gravel and Tyreese joined her after scrambling madly out of the back of the van.

"Sasha? How's Sasha?" The man asked Rick, but the former sheriff just shook his head.

"I don't know, I'm sorry." Rick told him, but Daryl cut off their conversation, waving Tyreese on towards the prison.

"Get in there, we got this." He urged and Amity nodded in confirmation, helping Daryl and Bob tug the bags from the trunk while Michonne crossed around to speak with the trio that had greeted them.

"What the hell happened here?" Amity heard her ask, but then she herself was sprinting up the gravel road with Bob and Daryl and pushing into the cellblock where the sick had been staying.

"Hello?" Amity called out and it was only a second later that Maggie's head popped over the railing and Bob immediately started up the steps towards her.

"Maggie, what the hell?" Amity asked her friend sharply. "You shouldn't be in here! You could've gotten sick!"

"There wasn't any choice." Maggie told her, gesturing to the rest of cellblock and Amity finally took a moment to look around. There was blood spattered around the large space and she noted the bodies that laid strewn about.

Shit had definitely gone down.

"Glenn?" She asked the woman, already knowing that he was still alive just by Maggie's face alone.

"We've got hope." Maggie said, her voice softer than it had been before.

"Sasha?" Amity asked as well.

"The same, Ty is with her." Maggie replied.

"Caleb?" She asked and the hesitation that followed was too long for her.

She felt the breath catch in her throat and it was only a moment later that her brother appeared next to Maggie, looking down at Daryl and Amity with sad and exhausted eyes.

Apparently he had taken it upon himself to break into the cellblock along with Maggie.

They would definitely be having a talk about that later.

"I'm sorry, Bug." Michael said gently and Amity found herself stuck for a moment.

It was as if her mind was comprehending what he had confirmed at only the shallowest level, and the rest of her mind and her body were not reacting accordingly.

"Easy." Daryl's gruff voice sounded from behind her as a warm palm pressed against her lower back.

She knew her breath was coming a bit faster, but the grief that she was fighting to feel wasn't hitting her the way she knew it should.

"We need some more hands!" Bob's voice called from the second level, causing Maggie and Michael to turn towards the sound, but Amity was rushing up the stairs before either of them even had the chance to move.

Daryl was hot on her heels, but the redhead didn't pause as she went to Bob and Hershel's side and immediately crouched down.

"Bob's taking this medicine to Sasha who's one cell over. Can you hook up an IV?" Hershel asked Amity, the words coming out as one jumbled group but she nodded all the same, still understanding.

"Five cells down, Lizzie and Luke are shut in there. You and your brother take these to them and hook them up. Make 'em sit still." Hershel directed, passing two bags of mixed meds to her along with the equipment she would need to hook them up. Amity didn't question whether the dosage was right for children, she knew that Hershel was nothing if not thorough even if she wasn't the most trusting of Bob at that moment.

Standing, Amity passed one of the bags to Michael for him to carry as he stepped back and let her out of the cell that Glenn had apparently been in, though Amity specifically avoided looking at her friend's bloodied and pale face as he laid on the bed.

"What happened?" Amity asked her brother as they walked down the catwalk, only for her to stop short at the sight of a familiar pair of shoes and pants covering a body that was sprawled out on the floor of one of the cells they were passing.

"Oh, Caleb." She said softly, the words falling from her lips though she hadn't meant for them to, but quickly Michael was turning her away from the sight.

"We'll take care of him, Bug. Don't look. We need to do this right now." He said and the redhead nodded numbly, again unable to really process what she was seeing even when knowing that it was her friend dead on the floor in front of her.

"Lizzie, it's Michael. We've got some things that are gonna get you feelin' better." Michael called out as they approached the cell that the two children were apparently tucked away in.

"Is Glenn okay?" Luke asked as they entered, looking at Amity with wide eyes and she nodded immediately, seeking to reassure the boy even while she was out of sorts.

"Yep, he's fine and you two are going to be as right as rain once I get you hooked up. It's going to pinch a little, but then you'll be feeling better like Michael said." Amity explained to the two, noting how Lizzie seemed to immediately go to her brother's side and stick there.

Amity was beginning to get a clearer picture of why Michael had busted into the cellblock with Maggie though she couldn't help but wonder where Carol was.

Distantly, Amity heard Daryl leaving the cellblock to go help with everything outside as she hooked up Lizzie to the meds, having already done so with Luke.

"You're doin' great, Sunflower. You'll be gettin' better in no time." Michael muttered to the girl, his deep voice kept low as he spoke to her and Lizzie nodded along to every word.

Sighing as she finished hooking everything up, Amity fell back from her crouch onto her butt and rested her arms on her knees, her chin on top of that. She was beat to say the least, exhausted and numb in a way that had worry appearing in the far reaches of her mind.

Michael reached out to her, settling a giant hand on top of her head and she was thankful for the steadiness that its weight provided.

"Miss Amity, are you upset?" Lizzie asked, the girl's voice always more evocative than her sister's smaller one.

Only Amity's eyes moved so that she was looking up at the little girl's face, her expression expectant and Amity considered that before replying.

"Yeah, Lizzie. I guess I am." She admitted and immediately received a nod in response, the girl going to say something else but Michael cut her off with a low mutter that Amity didn't catch and didn't care to know the words of.

Tucking her chin down, Amity rested her forehead against her folded arms and finally let her eyes fall closed for a moment as she began to count.

She gave herself thirty seconds this time.

Thirty seconds and then she would have to face everything again.

* * *

After everyone had been medicated and made comfortable, Amity found herself outside in the concrete courtyard.

She told herself that she just needed a moment alone, a moment of quiet, then she would be able to get back into the swing of things and continue helping with the massive amount of work that needed to be done around the prison.

Leaning against one of the large steel support beams, the redhead kept her eyes on the sky as she focused on keeping her breathing slow and steady.

She could handle this. She knew that she could.

If she could handle the Governor and getting bit by a walker, then she could handle this.

Her inner pep talk was interrupted by the sound of yelling echoing from the nearby cellblock that her family resided in. Both of the voices were familiar to her and she was on her feet in seconds flat, rushing up the stairs and pushing her way into the place without hesitation.

The room fell into silence as she entered, her cornflower blue eyes darting between her brother, who looked like he was ready to blow a gasket at any moment, and Daryl and Rick, who stood more than a couple of strides away from the man.

Rick held guilt in his expression, an emotion that had Amity narrowing her eyes at him before turning her attention to her partner who held tension and irritation in every line of his fit form.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Amity asked, voice sharp as she moved to her brother's side, wrapping a slender hand around his wrist in an attempt to calm the man down.

"Tell her, Rick." Michael said, his voice holding more venom than Amity had ever heard before. Automatically, she ran her free hand up the length of his arm, soothing him the best that she could as she turned curious eye on the former sheriff.

"I sent Carol away." Rick stated albeit hesitantly.

"You... _what_? Why?" Amity asked after a moment of trying to comprehend what her friend was telling her.

"She killed David and Karen." Rick told her, making Amity shake her head in return.

"Carol couldn't... she wouldn't..." Amity began, but trailed off as even in that moment the words didn't feel completely true.

Carol was the type that would do what needed to be done. She remembered the way the older woman had been talking at the meeting where they had discussed their next move about dealing with the sickness. She had been looking for the best way to stop the spread and Amity realized that she had already tried her hand at it.

"She told me that she did it." Rick said, talking over Amity's inner consideration of all that was happening. "She wasn't sorry."

"She was trying to stop the spread of the sickness." Amity replied immediately and Rick looked at her, eyes pleading for her to understand why he had done what he had.

"Would you have done any different?" He asked, catching Amity off-guard.

"You could have told me before taking her out!" Michael interjected harshly.

"I didn't know for certain, Michael and would you have believed me if I told you? Would you have let us leave?" Rick shot back and Amity held up her hands to stop the impending shouting fest that was bound to take place.

Once the two men stilled, the redhead turned to her brother and looked up to find the pair of eyes that were nearly identical to her own.

"What's the plan, big brother?" She questioned him, watching his expression turn from anger into one of confusion.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Are we going after her or what? Can't bring her back here, so are we staying with her?" She wondered and the silence that followed her words was deafening.

Daryl had ceased his stalking about and was now looking at the siblings with wide eyes, his heart hammering in his chest. He wouldn't expect Amity to abandon her brother, just like she hadn't expected him to abandon his own, but the thought of her leaving the prison without him again nearly had his knees giving out from under him.

He knew that if she went, he would be hard-pressed not to follow.

It seemed that Michael caught on to as much as well.

The former ranch hand's gaze drifted to the hunter, taking in the tension he held and the barely veiled panic behind his eyes. The man's chest ached something fierce at the thought of Carol being out in the world without him. He had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he would be going back to his cell and she wouldn't be there. That wasn't something he was going to subject anyone else to, especially not when it came to his baby sister and the man that he knew she loved and he had grown to respect.

"Prison needs us, Bug." Michael said simply, turning his eyes back to his sister and ignoring the way that the other two men in the room seemed to visibly deflate with relief.

A short nod from Amity followed her brother's words, though she could see the pain behind his eyes. She wished she could turn back time and know what Carol had planned. She wish she could have skipped her talk with Rick and instead went straight into the prison and perhaps found the woman before she did what she thought needed to be done.

 _If wishes were fishes, then we would all cast nets._

Wishing wasn't going to solve anything now, so instead Amity knew that she had to act on what was available to her.

"Then let's get to work, boys." She chirped, sliding her hand that was resting on her brother's arm to his wrist so that she could grasp it, nearly laughing at how small her hand look against it.

Casting a look at Daryl as she tugged Michael towards the stairs, ignoring Rick for the time being, Amity offered the hunter a brief smile and was pleased that there was no anger held in his eyes, rather there was a fair amount of understanding.

His temper was something that was easy to spark and she wouldn't have been surprised with it doing so when she mentioned being willing to leave with her brother, but instead it seemed they both had done some learning about each other over the past few months.

"Thanks for that, Am." Michael said once they were outside in the courtyard and the redhead had released his wrist.

"I'm here for you, Mikey. Just like you're here for me." Amity told him, looking up to him with a gentle smile before nodding her head towards a distant guard tower.

"Let's do some inventory and reloading, yeah?" She suggested and the cowboy nodded in return.

After the massacre that they had drove up on courtesy of Rick, Merle, and Carl, Amity had no doubts that they needed to take some of their weapons from where they were stored in the guard tower and make sure they were switched out and had available ammo.

"I am really sorry that Carol's gone." Amity spoke up as they approached the tower, her eyes staying trained on the large structure instead of her grieving brother.

"Me too, Bug." Michael said softly in return, shaking his head in a way that had her sure he didn't even realize he was doing so before he rested a hand on the doorknob of the bottom door of the tower, ready to pull it open.

As if his touch held a power that neither of them were aware of, the moment his fingers wrapped around the metal, a deafening explosion sounded above them. The heat swept over Amity as she was thrown hard onto the concrete due to the sheer force of the blast.

Before she even had time to realize what had happened, Michael was next to her, his face covered in ash that mixed with the blood pouring from his forehead to leave a coagulated mess above his eyebrows.

With ringing ears, Amity leaned heavily against her brother as the pair stumbled away from the burning tower as quickly as possible, the heat of the still burning building being to much for their thin clothing to bear and protect their skin from.

Through the ringing, Amity heard voices from up ahead of them, loud and urgent and achingly familiar. She watched as her family turned to look at them with wide eyes as they rounded the corner, Maggie, Daryl, Beth, and Merle immediately approaching and pulling them apart to help them stand.

"You hurt?" Maggie asked, Amity having to focus on reading the woman's lips to know what she was saying as she leaned into Daryl's strong arms. She shook her head no before she turned to find her brother and was pleased to see that Merle was giving him his shoulder while Beth fussed over his face.

Their moment of recovery didn't last long though as Rick had pushed on towards the fences, the rest of them trailing along behind them until the sight that stood beyond their boundaries had them all freezing.

Amity felt her breath catch in her throat as she took in the sight of the many vehicles and people that stood outside their fences, obviously not there to make friends if the tank, that had surely been used to blow up the guard tower, was anything to go by.

"Rick!" A chillingly familiar voice called out and Amity found her eyes drawn to the man standing on top of the tank.

The sight of him, the Governor, standing tall and proud just outside of their home, of the place that Amity had begun to feel safe in, had bile rising in her throat. She grasped Maggie's hand like a lifeline next to her, knowing that the same harsh bolt of fear and disgust that she felt was being experienced by the other woman as well.

"Come down here. We need to talk." The Governor called out confidently.

"It's not up to me. There's a council now. They run this place." Rick yelled back, the tension in his voice being nothing compared to that which he held in his form.

"Is Hershel on the council?" The Governor asked in return, his words sending a chill down Amity's spine and she watched as the man nodded towards a vehicle, the grip Maggie had on her hand tightening considerably as Hershel appeared from within it.

"What about Michonne? She on the council, too?" The twisted man questioned loudly, the swordswoman being led along next. Michael shifted from behind her, stalking up to the front of the group with shaking hands.

Amity could practically read the thoughts running through her brother's head.

He had already lost Carol that day, he couldn't take losing Michonne as well. The two had become close friends during their time hunting down the Governor. Michael had tagged along to help the woman, even though she hadn't wanted him to, under the excuse of knowing his way around a horse and being able to help her with them. In all honesty, he just couldn't stand the thought of the woman hunting down the man who had done so much to his baby sister without anyone having her back.

Now to see that man having her out of their reach was more than overwhelming.

"I don't make decisions anymore." Rick tried to reason with the volatile leader.

"You're making the decisions today, Rick." The Governor stated, leaving no room for argument. "Come down here. Let's have that talk."

Amity's stomach twisted uncomfortably as Rick turned to look at Daryl, the hunter giving a nod to his friend, letting him know that he was behind him a hundred percent before Rick was turning to his son.

Watching her friend as he now left them to make his way down to the fence and to the Governor, Amity wanted nothing more than to grab him and drag him back to relative safety.

She wanted to put an arrow through the Governor's other eye and call it a day, but things weren't going to be settled that easily.

They didn't have the numbers, they didn't have the man power, and they were still weakened by the sickness and the run they had to take.

"We can't take 'em all on." Daryl said suddenly, stalking over to Sasha's side as she was the only other council member around aside from his brother who was already next to him. "We'll go through the admin building, through the woods like we planned. We ain't got the numbers no more."

The thought of fleeing their home wasn't one that Amity liked, but she knew that it was the best option they had if they were all going to stay together.

"When's the last time someone checked the stash on the bus?" Daryl asked.

"Day before we hit the Big Spot." Sasha replied without missing a beat.

"But, we were low on rations then. We barely had enough stocked for everyone for three days, now with our losses I would put us at a week max." Amity chimed in, further clarifying and she received a nod from the hunter in response.

"Yeah, we'll manage. Things go south, everyone heads for that bus." Daryl directed, his eyes holding Amity's for a long moment before they turned to Tyreese and Sasha. "Let everybody know."

"What if everybody doesn't know when things go bad? How long do we wait?" Tyreese asked.

"As long as we can." Daryl replied.

Watching the scene down at the fence carefully, Amity stood fast next to her best friend. She lent her support the best she could, letting her grip her hand until it was numb and hoped that she wasn't doing the same to poor Beth on her other side.

It wasn't until she felt cold metal tap against her elbow that she let go of Maggie she looked around to find Daryl's expectant eyes.

His free hand was sat against Amity's hip and he used that grip to turn her slightly towards him, his head dipping down low with his mouth close to her ear.

"Things go south, you get to that bus, you hear me?" He told her, the gruffness of his tone meaning business. "No lookin' back, no arguin'. You get there and get everyone on it out of here then I'll find you."

Shaking her head, Amity met Daryl's eyes once more when he leaned back from her, leaning forward to press her forehead briefly to his as she tugged the weapon from Daryl's hand.

"I'm not leaving anyone behind here." She told him firmly, watching the protective heat rise in his eyes masked as anger.

"Listen to me, girl. You get to that bus and you get the hell out of dodge, you hear me? You ain't stayin'! I will find you!" Daryl insisted, but his words didn't wave Amity's resolve.

"You wouldn't leave me behind, Dixon. I'm not leaving you." She stated simply, her tone final.

The hunter seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, she could read the confliction and worry in his expression as plain as day, but after a moment he seemed to resign himself to needing to get their group ready and tugged her close to him for a brief moment.

"Stay close to Maggie. Watch each other's asses." He told her, raising his voice a bit so the woman beside them could hear him and she nodded as well.

Finally moving on, Daryl returned to where the guns were held and passed a couple to Maggie and Beth as well.

It was clear that they were all ready to defend their home if it came down to it and as Beth confidently palmed the weapon in her hands, Amity looked over to catch her pretty blue eyes.

The fear was obvious in them, but so was a fire that had the redhead nodding at the younger girl, a tight proud smile was offered to the blonde and after receiving a nod of her own in return, all eyes were on Rick's back and their two family members who had been forced onto their knees.

It seemed that eons had passed, but simultaneously like it had only been seconds before Michonne's sword was being held against Hershel's throat, the grip of it in the Governor's grasp.

Amity pressed herself forward against fence along with both of the Greene girls, her heart pounding in her chest as she brought her gun up and braced its barrel through a rung in the chain-link out of instinct.

She could see Rick talking, she could read the desperation in the lines of his body as he seemed to try to reason with the man that Amity was quite certain could never truly be reasoned with.

The Governor wasn't in his right mind anymore. He hadn't been for a long time, long before they had come in contact with him.

At the distance they were, it was hard to truly see much of the expression that the Governor or any of his lackies held, but when the sword started to move away from Hershel's neck- that was something that she noticed.

She should have been relieved by the sight, but the feeling in her stomach had her standing tensed and ready until the sword was swinging back further then abruptly forward, slicing through the side of Hershel's neck.

A heart-wrenching scream sounded from Maggie as the two young women watched their father fall to the ground, his life force gushing out of him. A sob tore though Amity as she laid on the trigger just as her best friend did, the three woman joining the firefight only a split second after Rick had started it.

The redhead kept her teeth clenched as she fired bullet after bullet towards the mass of people that were outside of their fences, sobs wracking her chest as she watched a few men fall but the majority remain standing. She heard the vehicles gas up just before they began to move towards them.

The tank crushed their fences beneath its treads like tin foil and though Amity had doubted it from the beginning, it was then that she knew for certain this had never been about the Governor wanting anything from them other than revenge.

"I'm out of ammo!" Beth yelled out and Maggie exchanged a look with Amity before nodding her head.

"Get to the bus! I'll cover you!" Maggie told the younger girl.

"See you soon, Greene!" Amity yelled at her friend before she moved away and Amity was left alone at her section of the fence.

She continued to shoot as vehicles pushed their way into the prison, a group of people moving forward on foot as well under the cover that the tank provided them.

The world erupted into complete and utter chaos.

Amity found herself barely able to keep track of her family as they scattered to defend their home. She lost Daryl amongst the gunfire though she heard his gruff voice calling for her.

She watched Michael duck into the prison moments after telling her he had to find Mika and Lizzie, a kiss to her temple being his only good-bye as he assured her they would meet up on the bus.

The tank pressed into the concrete courtyard, the Governor's people using it as cover while they laid fire down on the people defending the prison.

Without really thinking it through, Amity leapt on top of one of the metal tables in the courtyard, firing her weapon at those walking alongside the left of the tank.

Two fell quickly, the other two taking cover behind roving vehicle and that is when the redhead made the decision to rush it.

The tank was their keystone, heavily defended but also providing for the center of both their offense and their defense.

With what could only be classified as a nearly feral snarl of a war cry sounding from her, Amity threw herself at the metal war machine and began to climb her way to the top of it. She kicked at the man who had grabbed ahold of one of her boots, ignoring the yells of her name that she barely caught through the rapid gunfire.

Pulling her handgun from her belt, Amity sent a bullet through a man's skull just as his weapon turned on her, having given up on the idea of simply pulling her from the tank.

She scrambled quickly up the top of the tank, leaving a blood trail in her wake though she wasn't certain where the blood was coming from, and found the latch. A bullet breezed by her, a man from the right side of the tank having apparently spotted her up top and realized that she wasn't one of their own.

The man was dropped a second later, but Amity paid no mind to that fact as she attempted to tear at the hatch that was keeping the driver of the machine safe inside. She wasn't the most knowledgable about the workings of a tank, something that became clear when she wasn't able to find her way inside of it.

Just as she had decided to give up and turn her weapon on those now a few steps ahead of the machine that she was perched on, the hatch opened with a speed that the redhead hadn't been expecting as it cracked harshly against her face.

The pain in her forehead was nearly debilitating as the woman found herself tumbling ass over heels backwards off the tank, hitting the concrete with a resounding crack as her eyes rolled up in her head.

Darkness was all she had the strength to battle for a few seconds, the roar of gunfire being enough to keep her in the land of the conscious for a few moments longer.

She pressed her palms into the ground, ignoring the bite of the stone against her flesh as she scrambled across the pavement, the moaning sound a few paces behind her being enough to have her panicking. She found the remnants of one of the fences, her hands closing around a piece of broken metal as she searched for something to defend herself with, but it seemed her mind had a different idea.

Seconds later, the woman was falling back to the ground and the world was quiet.

* * *

Moaning was the first sound to reach Amity's ears when she came to once more.

The sound of countless numbers of walkers echoed in the space around her, the realization of such having her eyes shooting open to cast around her in a blind panic.

The sight she was met with nearly had a sob wrenching its way out of her, but she bit it back, choosing to lay still for a few moments longer to take inventory of the situation and herself.

It looked like the world was on fire, though the gunshots had silenced. All around her fires burned and smoke rose up into the sky. Walkers, more than likely brought in by the noise of their battle, stumbled across the grounds of the formerly secure prison in masses. Around her alone, Amity could count nearly three dozen.

There was no wondering as to why she was waking up alone.

Her family was gone, either having fled or died she couldn't say, but she knew that she couldn't stay laying amongst the rubble forever.

She gave her body a quick mental check. Noting the blinding pain in her head and the burning ache in her thigh, but she decided it was something that she would simply have to push through.

She moved slowly when she had finally built up the strength to move at all.

The walkers were ignoring her as she lied still, unaware that she was even there, but she knew once she moved that that would all change.

Amity took her time in readying herself. She sought out a twisted piece of metal with her fingertips and forced away all of the thoughts of what had just happened, of who was no longer around her.

She had to get out. She had to _live_.

Biting back a groan as her head spun and her vision blurred, Amity launched herself to her feet as quickly as possible before immediately pushing herself to run. Only once rotted hands started reaching for her did the woman swing the metal pole she had, rebounding it off of one walker skull before jabbing it through another.

It was nothing but pure instinct and adrenaline that had her tearing through the walkers, forcing her way to the former fence line, and stumbling into the trees.

It was nothing but luck that had the walkers so drawn to the prison and fires that she was able to rid herself of them once she found the solace of the forest.

She pressed on nonetheless, needing to put as much distance between herself and the prison as possible.

Stumbling on, Amity stopped only to empty the contents of her stomach onto the forest floor, her sobs following the retches being enough to have her gagging yet again.

Once there was nothing more to spit up, the redhead pushed herself on. For the life of her, Amity wouldn't be able to tell how far she had gotten, but as the sun began to sink in the sky, the woman collapsed onto the forest floor.

She needed shelter. She needed fire, warmth, and clothes that were soaked through with blood.

Another sob shook her slender frame as her hands clawed at the soft dirt beneath them.

She needed her family.

She needed Maggie and Merle.

She needed Rick, Carl, Beth, Glenn, Michonne, Sasha, Tyreese, Carol, _Hershel_.

She needed Michael.

She needed Daryl.

Resting her forehead against the top of one of her tensed hands, Amity found herself unable to fight anymore.

Exhaustion ate away at her, the tremors and sobs continued to pull from her energy supply until she was no longer able to force herself back up to keep moving.

Amity found words falling from her lips, nonsensical mutterings she was sure, but she repeated them like a mantra, like a prayer, until her mind was shutting down and the rest of her body followed.

The cold forest floor was the last thing she felt before she was taken by pure exhaustion.

* * *

 **Hey, lovelies!**

 **Sorry about this chapter taking longer than usual, the downfall of the prison was something that I wanted to get just right for you all!**

 **That being said, there will be a lot more interesting things to come!**

 **How do you think Amity is going to hold up now that she's alone again? Do you think her and Daryl will find each other again? Where did Michael go? Did he get out of the prison?**

 **Leave me a review telling me what you think about this chapter, Amity, and what you're excited to see in the future!**

 **xx**


	33. Chapter 33

In the thick of things, Daryl lost Amity.

He lost her.

He saw her run, saw her scale the side of the tank like a methed out spider monkey, but then a walker was on him.

The hunter made quick work of the undead creature, jabbing a bolt easily through its head and using it as a shield as he tried to get closer to the tank, to the last place he had saw his woman.

But by the time he could get anywhere near close, there was no sign of her and he was being forced back by the Governor's bitches and walkers alike.

He stayed as long as he could, hoping and praying to whatever out there that was listening that he'd catch sight of the messy ginger curls that he always woke up with in his mouth or tickling his nose in the morning.

He couldn't stay long enough.

He couldn't even figure out where his brother had disappeared to after the older Dixon went apeshit on a few of the men that had pressed forward, one having shot Bob.

Doubling back alone, Daryl had nearly bowled Beth over, the blonde's pupils blown wide with fear and he knew that he needed to get her out of there. He knew that if Amity would want anything from him, it would be to get anyone and everyone he could to safety.

So he grabbed Beth's arm and tugged her along, leading the way out of the overrun prison that they once called home and into the woods that for once didn't feel so welcoming.

He pressed them on for as long as he could, running through grassy plains and taking out walkers until both of them could go no longer. His body betrayed him as his knees buckled and he found himself in a heap amongst the tall grass of a field that he wasn't familiar with.

Laying next to Beth, his broad chest heaving as he fought to get enough air in his lungs, Daryl pushed back the stinging heat from his eyes when he thought of the fallen prison, of what they were running away from.

He felt like he was leaving behind his brother, Amity, Michael- everyone that he had worked so hard to protect.

Amity had refused to leave without him when the attack started and he couldn't even keep her safe. He couldn't even stay long enough to find her.

She had to be gone.

If she wasn't then he would have seen her. He would have found her.

They were all gone.

Night fell faster than Daryl would have liked, but he took it in stride.

Quickly and quietly the archer built a small fire for himself and Beth to sit by while they recovered from the day before.

The whole chaotic battle took an hour at most, but Daryl felt like it was _years_.

Staring at the fire, the man watched the flames dance, his hands gripping one another tightly as he tried not to think about the woman whose hair nearly matched them.

"We should do something." Beth stated suddenly, pulling Daryl out of his mind, his blue eyes rising to look at her.

"We should do something." The girl restated, trying to get him to agree. "We aren't the only survivors. We can't be."

Daryl held back a snort at that.

They very well could be the only survivors of the prison. The Governor was merciless, the walkers were pouring in when they left.

His brother, Amity, did any of them stand a chance?

"Rick, Michonne, they could be out here." Beth insisted, seeing the disbelief behind Daryl's eyes. "Maggie and Glenn could have made it out of A block."

She paused trying to see if her words had gotten through to him, but he simply looked at her.

"They could've. _Amity_ could've." She snapped, spitting like a damned feral cat, but the name that fell from her lips had the man's eyes dropping to his hands.

"You're a tracker. You can track." Beth pressed. "Come on. The sun will be up soon. If we head out now, we can-"

The girl paused as she noticed that the hunter was still shutting her out, shutting everything out.

"Fine." She stated harshly. "If you won't track, I will."

With that, the blonde grabbed one of Daryl's knives from the ground and palmed it, more than confident in her ability with the blade after both Amity and his lessons. She turned heel and went stalking back into the woods, heading in the direction that she thought she might lead her to run into someone from the prison.

Daryl watched the girl walk away until her back faded into the darkness and he could practically hear Amity bitching at him about letting the girl walk off alone and obviously upset.

With a heavy sigh Daryl pushed himself to his feet, grabbing up his crossbow and kicking dirt onto the flames to stifle them.

"Ya better be damned pleased with this, Cherry." He muttered to the dying flames as if they were Amity herself before taking off after the youngest Greene.

* * *

When Amity awoke from her sleep still laying in the dirt under a tree, the woman's more awake and reasonable mind noted how lucky she had been to go undisturbed.

Anything could have stumbled across her while she slept, yet miraculously, nothing had.

She could have had a concussion and fallen into a coma, but she didn't.

She had someone up there somewhere to thank.

"Okay, Amity. Last night, that was your time to be a blubbering mess and you were a champ at it. Now it's time to find your family." She told herself, speaking as if she was speaking to someone next to her listening.

It was a habit that she had fallen into while on her own in the beginning and it was one that often crept up on her anytime she found herself alone from then on, and she was definitely alone now.

Looking around the unfamiliar forest, Amity chewed her bottom lip as she considered her next course of action.

She had her hand gun, only 5 bullets, and the knives on her belt, but that was it in the way of weapons.

She didn't know if her pounding head was what had dried blood on her face or if it was from a walker, but she felt and spotted a nasty gash in her thigh that nearly had her sighing.

Slowly stretching the leg out in front of her, Amity looked at the wound and decided that if she got it cleaned soon then she would probably avoid infection.

Ripping off a strip of fabric from the bottom of the flannel that draped over her shoulders, Amity bound the cut tightly before pushing herself to her feet.

"Okay, a place to crash and raid for supplies first. Then family." The woman reasoned to herself, leaning a hand against the tree she had slept under to balance herself.

She would be no use to anyone sick or dead.

She gave the tree a couple of pats of thanks for keeping her hidden, steeling herself for the time to come, before she was limping off deeper into the woods.

* * *

Daryl and Beth had spread out a few paces from one another as they stalked through the woods, the sun now rising up over the tops of the trees as they moved.

The hunter felt tired in a way that had nothing to do with the lack of sleep. Nonetheless, a disturbance in the leafmat caught his trained eye and Daryl approached the spot, kneeling down next to it, and feeling Beth's presence at his back as he dusted away the leaves to reveal a small footprint in the damp dirt.

"Could be Luke's. Or Molly's." Beth suggested. "Whoever they are, it means they're alive."

"No, this means they were alive four or five hours ago." Daryl countered, not holding much hope for anyone surviving outside of the prison, especially not a kid.

"They're alive." Beth insisted, fixing him with a hard look and Daryl shook his head at her before standing and heading off in the direction the prints led.

"They picked up the pace right here." Daryl said nearly a half an hour later, stumbling across a patch of tracks that differed from the rest. "Got out in a hurry. Things went bad."

"Wouldn't kill you to have a little faith." Beth told him, sounding tired.

"Yeah, faith." The archer snorted sourly. "Faith ain't done shit for us. Sure as hell didn't do nothin' for your father."

He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips, but he held Beth's gaze as she whipped around to look at him with disbelief. The blonde eyed him in a way that reminded him too much of the way that Amity would dissect him with one look, the girl obviously having picked up more than just self-defense from her mentor.

Without a word, Beth turned away and moved towards a berry bush then began plucking the fruit.

"They'll be hungry when we find them." She stated.

As much as he didn't believe the same, Daryl had to admire the girl's persistent belief that they would find others. He considered her thin shoulders for a moment before pulling his bandana from his pocket and offering it to her, avoiding her eyes as he handed over a bit of a peace offering.

The girl carefully took it from him and wrapped the fruit in the cloth before Daryl was nodding his head in their next direction, the girl scrambling to head that way.

"I didn't know you were makin' a damned clone of yourself, girl. She's gonna do my head in at this rate." Daryl muttered to open air once he believed that Beth was far enough away that she wouldn't hear his quiet conversation to Amity. "You're so much better at this hope bullshit. She needs you... not me."

Looking at the blue Georgia sky just over the tops of the trees, the man let his matching eyes fall closed for a second before he was moving to follow his companion who was dead set on having _faith_.

A Dixon knew better than that shit.

* * *

Amity had never given enough credit to her legs, that was something she now recognized.

Hobbling was, for one, hard, and for two, slow.

She felt like she was wading through molasses at the pace she was going.

Truthfully, the woman was berating herself over nothing. She had no true grasp on how much distance she was actually covering or what it meant in the end.

It wasn't as if she actually had a set destination in mind anyways.

" _You put one foot in front of the other..._ " The redhead sang to herself as she hobbled through the forest, trying to keep her mind on anything and everything but the fact that she was out here alone.

That the prison had fallen.

That she had lost her brother, her partner, and her friends all in the course of an afternoon.

" _And soon you'll be walking 'cross the floor. You put one foot in front of the other..._ "

Her small song faded out as the trees began to thin and through them, Amity spotted something that let her know she really had made some progress after all.

A road.

Emerging carefully from the tree line, Amity cast her eyes up both directions of the road, pursing her lips slightly as she considered which direction to head.

It took her a moment to work out where she most likely was and the best direction for her to continue going, but once she had, she was pressing forward once more.

"Find somewhere to sleep tonight. Hopefully find some food and water." She lamented to herself, walking along the tree line as she didn't dare walk the open road.

There was too much out there that she might need to hide from.

As the sun continued to fall lower and lower into the sky, Amity began to lose the hope she was holding onto over finding a place to crash for the evening.

She sighed heavily, licking her dry lips as she trudged on, considering whether it would be best to tuck herself under a tree again or attempt to climb one.

Her dilemma was quickly solved when she finally peaked the hill that she had been steadily climbing and spotted the first building she had run into for miles.

Smiling brightly, Amity nearly let out a small cheer before the faded sign caught her attention and made her reconsider everything in her life up to that point.

"Cherry's Gentleman's Club." She read the sign aloud, swearing right then and there to never tell a soul about this when she found everyone again.

"At least they'll have booze."

* * *

The sight of a couple downed walkers caught Daryl's eye as he rounded a tree trunk with Beth just a pace or so behind him. He moved towards the corpses without hesitation, looking them over before spotting a spattering of blood against the leaves of a small bush just beside of them.

Running his fingers over the liquid, Daryl considered it as he rubbed his fingertips together.

"What?" Beth asked him.

"That ain't walker blood." He explained.

"The trail keeps going. They fought them off." The girl responded simply, stepping over the bodies to keep moving on.

"No. Got walker tracks all up and down here." Daryl told her. "At least a dozen of them."

Beth turned to the man, ready to scold him over his negative attitude once more but the snapping of a twig nearby had her tensing instead, pulling the large hunting knife she had taken from her belt.

She tilted her head, trying to determine the location of the noise just as Daryl seemed to do so as well.

A loud snarling from behind her had Beth jumping nearly out of her skin. She leapt forward and out of the walker's reach, turning to swiftly jab the blade of her knife into the undead man's temple just as Daryl reached her side.

Yanking the blade from the walker's head with a sickening squelch, Beth kneeled down to wipe off the blade like she had seen Daryl do before and then stood straight once more, looking at the man who was regarding her carefully.

"Come on." She told him, obviously expecting them to keep moving and to keep following the tracks they had found.

Again, Daryl found himself watching the girl's retreating back as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened.

* * *

Cautiously approaching the building, Amity took a lap around the place to check for all the outside exits, counting three in total before returning to the front.

She spared another look at the empty road behind her before leaning forward and resting her ear gently against the wood of the door. Holding her breath, Amity listened for any movement from within the building but came back with nothing.

Again pursing her lips, Amity took a moment before loudly banging the bottom of her knife's hilt against the door.

She waited for a moment, but it didn't take long until snarls were echoing through the door, a heavy body slamming up against it.

The woman tried to pick out the sound of different walkers, counting at least three.

She could handle three for a place to sleep and some alcohol to use as disinfectant.

Palming the hunting knife she had, Amity made sure her gun was ready to be easily drawn before she reached forward and yanked open the unlocked club's door. Immediately, a walker in what was once a sequined bikini stumbled forth and Amity easily slammed her blade through the undead's temple before hopping back as the other two kept coming.

"Come on, fuckers! I'll pay extra!" Amity taunted, her suppressed stressed out mind enjoying the relief that killing walkers provided.

Dodging the outstretched arms of a walker that she would have pegged as a bouncer for the club since the son of a bitch was huge, Amity made quick work of the other dancer walker in pasties before turning her attention to the big guy.

She couldn't reach the thing's head without jumping, that was something she noted immediately.

That didn't deter the redhead though. She couldn't begin to count how many times she had preached to Carl and Beth, even Lizzie and Mika when Carol brought them to her, about the fact that size didn't matter if you were clever.

Again, Amity dodged the big fucker, letting him stumble past her before she slammed the heel of her boot into the back of his knee cap, hearing a sharp crack before he was falling forward. Without hesitation, the woman rushed forward and buried the blade of her knife into the back of its skull, leaving it facedown where it laid.

She knew that she needed to move the walkers, anyone on the road would see the slaughtered corpses as a giant "living human here" sign, but she couldn't be arsed with it right then.

Panting slightly, Amity used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, looking back to the club's entrance before pushing her way inside.

* * *

Following a trail was second nature to Daryl at this point in his life.

He had been a decent tracker before the world went to hell, but the apocalypse just honed his skills that much more.

This trail, however, had a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Nonetheless, he followed it. He followed it because the blonde at his side followed him and she wanted him to follow it.

Breaching the tree line, Daryl noted the train tracks in front of them just as his mind noted the sound of walkers feasting.

Looking over, the man felt his gut twist at the sight that they were met with. Three walkers were leaned over a multitude of bodies, feeding hungrily on their flesh.

He heard Beth's breathing kick up a notch from beside of him and moved forward alone, shooting a bolt through the skull of one of the walkers before reloading and doing it twice more.

Daryl closed the distance between himself and the bodies, knowing that Beth was following as well when he kneeled to roughly yank his bolts free.

The small shoe caught his eye a second before he heard the blonde girl's breath catch. He stood without looking at her, knowing all he needed to know from what they had seen and went to leave the site behind them.

He had gotten a few paces away when the sobs started, the whimpering noise of a crying female being a distinct one, but one that the gruff man had no idea what to do with.

Again he found his eyes being cast towards the sky, looking from answers from the woman that he knew would have all of them if she was still there with him.

Receiving nothing to help him out, not even the whisper of Amity's voice in his mind, Daryl turned away from the sobbing girl, her arms held out from her sides like a bird that was about to take flight. Like she didn't know what to do with them or herself anymore.

He turned away, considered the area around them, and then he started walking.

* * *

The rest of the club was empty, something that Amity was endlessly grateful for.

She was right about her assumption on the alcohol availability. The inside of the place was untouched.

Scavenging behind the bar and in the backroom, Amity found a few of bottles of water and more than a few snack foods.

She chose a can of mixed nuts, placing that next to one of the plush couches that were arranged near the center stage along with a bottle of vodka and a bottle of water.

With that situated, Amity went towards the dressing rooms. When she had cleared them she had noted the vast amount of clothes littering the space, but she didn't have a chance to look through them until now.

The majority of the things the redhead found were a bit too revealing for her taste and for the zombie apocalypse as a whole. Luckily, digging through one of the duffel bags that was sat on a chair, she dug out a pair of fitted black jeans.

Tugging off her ruined pants and panties, Amity tugged on a clean pair of lacy black cheekies, the most conservative pair of underwear she could find, and traded out her stained grey bra for a black sports bra that she dug out of the mountains of clothes along with a loose grey tank top, ignoring the fact that it had the word "Cherry's" stamped across it.

Scooping up the jeans, a few spare shirts for cloth, and her discarded socks and boots, Amity wandered back into the stage area of the club in only the top and underwear.

She stretched out on the surprisingly comfortable couch, not wanting to think too hard about the horny men who had graced it before her, and laid her injured leg out in front of her.

Looking at the cut, Amity sucked her lower lip between her teeth as she reached for one of the spare shirts she had grabbed and the vodka.

Taking a breath, she poured the alcohol over the shirt before using it to wipe away the coagulated blood around her wound, hissing between her teeth as she did so.

Once the cut was more visible, Amity didn't hesitate before simply pouring the vodka over her thigh, cursing harshly as the wound began to burn like a whore in church.

Taking a deep swig from the nearly empty bottle, Amity poured it over the blade of her knife to make sure it was clean before she set the bottle aside and used her knife to tear two sizable strips from the other spare shirt.

She folded one of the strips into a thick pad, placing it over the cut then bound it with the other strip.

"And now, we feast!" Amity announced to the empty club before she grabbed the can of mixed nuts and her water, leaning back heavily into the couch.

Her mind began to run down a checklist, ensuring that she had moved the bodies outside and secured all three outside exits before she would allow herself to relax and enjoy her finds.

"Tomorrow... tomorrow I make a plan."

* * *

It was a wonder for Beth when she had gotten so unlucky, but for Daryl it was expected. The man had been unlucky his entire life up until that point so what was going to change now that the world went to the dead?

They had been hiking for a few hours after coming across the remains of the slaughter along the railroad tracks when they caught the tail end of a herd that was passing through.

Daryl tugged Beth along through the ever-darkening woods, the pair running on pure adrenaline as the moans of the walkers following them spurned them on.

They ran until the trees began to thin and Daryl found himself asking the world for a reprieve, for a house or just a building to hole up in until the walkers lost interest.

It seemed that the world was doing just enough for him to let him get by though when they stumbled out onto a road and spotted a junker of a car.

Daryl watched the trees as Beth tried to start the piece of shit, but again, Daryl Dixon's life didn't operate on good luck.

Waving Beth over as the snarls of the undead began to echo from the tree line, the hunter gestured for her to hop into the trunk of the car.

She did so without hesitation and Daryl followed suit a moment after, pulling the dented trunk closed the best he could before tying it off with his bandana in order to keep it shut.

Pulling his crossbow around, paying mind that he didn't smash in one of Beth's kneecaps as he did so, Daryl trained his loaded crossbow at the crease of the trunk, ready to fire if one of the sumbitches yanked the piece of shit open like they were shucking a damn oyster.

He sat tensed and ready as walkers swarmed the car, either having heard them get in or still smelling their scent on the air. They banged and they moaned non-stop, their hunger apparent in the rabid snarls that left their mouths.

The stench of rotten flesh overwhelmed the vehicle, Beth's breath coming in small gasps next to him as he focused solely on being ready for the worst.

Hours drug on with no change, the walkers were still trying to get to them and Daryl reckoned he was going to go 'plum insane before they gave up.

He had never been the claustrophobic sort, but being locked in the back of a trunk with death only a few inches away was enough to have him getting there. He sat firm though, his body never wavering from the defensive position he had taken.

Daryl wasn't much for comfort, but he hoped that his apparent lack of panic would serve to reassure the younger female at his side if nothing else.

Again, he found himself wishing for Amity's people skills in the high tension moment they were apart of, but he would be damned if he'd wish her into the situation they had gotten into.

The way Daryl saw it, Amity was gone. She was lost to the prison and he would be lost to the world they were in if he hadn't dedicated himself to keeping Beth safe like Amity would have wanted.

He could practically hear the redhead saying that she didn't spend all that time training the girl up just so he could leave her alone to die.

A small smile flitted across Daryl's lips at the thought, the expression dropping as quickly as it had appeared when a walker slammed itself down particularly hard on the trunk of the car.

He wouldn't wish Amity into the situation he was in, but he wished with every bit of his being that she was with him.


	34. Chapter 34

The morning greeted Amity with a stiff leg, throbbing headache, but a sense of revitalization that she would have never expected to have given the circumstances.

That sensation led to her climbing to her feet within seconds of waking, noting the sunshine pouring in from the front entrance of the building, trying its best to shine through the dark tinted windows around the door.

Amity knew that she had to get moving if she had any hope of finding anyone in her group. She needed supplies and a plan, so she took care of the easy one first.

After carefully tugging on the pants she had found over her injured leg, she grabbed a large duffel bag from the dressing rooms.

Amity stuffed a change of clothes into it along with a few lighters left on the vanity before wandering back into the stage area. Again she found herself digging in the backroom and behind the bar, stuffing the maraschino cherries, olives, and assorted nuts she found into her bag along with another bottle of vodka- for disinfecting of course.

With that packed, Amity was pleased to find a handgun stashed under the bar as well, a box of ammo hidden behind a box of napkins in the back for the piece, and a baseball bat that had her chest clenching at the sight.

When the world had first gone to hell, it had been easy for the redhead to push the loss of her brother aside. Everything had been lost at first.

The old world, her old life, and her old job. It was like pressing the restart button on a game so she found it easier to accept. Now, with Michael reappearing in her new world life and how they had become closer than they ever had been before, Amity felt his loss like a knife in her heart.

"I'm going to find you, Mikey. Don't you worry." She told the empty strip club, shouldering the duffle bag she packed before sliding the handgun in her belt opposite of her own piece, and resting the bat against her shoulder.

"Time to get moving. Time to find my people." Amity chirped as she went towards the front entrance, pausing at the door to attempt to peer through the tinted windows.

Outside looked deserted, there were no walkers or people and as she cracked the door, she didn't hear the sound of voices, moans, or engines.

With that being determined, the redhead made her leave from Cherry's Gentleman's club without a glance back over her shoulder.

Her time there was peaceful, and it was something she desperately needed, but now she had shit to do.

* * *

Kicking open the creaking trunk had been a decision of Beth's. The blonde was cramped and tired of sitting in the trunk after over an hour of not hearing a single moan.

At that point, she would have welcomed anything that got her out of the hot tight space with the tense hunter who didn't seem to have two words to rub together for her.

Beth didn't understand how Amity could do it. Though, she figured that Daryl had been more chatty with the redhead than he would be with her. Nonetheless, she was over the situation.

Once out of the trunk, the pair made quick work of scavenging the car for what they could.

Despite Beth's growing exasperation with the quiet archer and Daryl's uncertainty about how to handle the girl he was surviving alongside, the two made a fairly skilled survival team.

They were back to moving in only moments and it was only an hour or so later that they were stopping to set up a camp.

Daryl led them back a ways off the road, setting up a lean-to shelter before ducking into the woods in search of something to eat while Beth fiddled around the camp.

The hunter forced himself to relax, falling into the familiar fluidity of hunting that he had been born and raised into. He ghosted over the leafmat, barely making a sound as he lined up a shot, only to miss due to a faulty bolt.

He held the splintering object up, his mind going to the arrows that he had made back on the farm. He had put his up as spares months ago after a run to a sports equipment center gave him and Amity plenty of ammo to use.

Amity, however, kept the ones that he had made her back on the farm during that night so long ago in her quiver. He had tried to argue against it, insisting that the ones they found would fly straighter and hold up longer, but she was hearing none of it.

He wouldn't admit to anyone that it warmed him every time she used them, every time he saw the things he crafted protecting or providing for her.

Fat lot of good that did at the end.

The arrows he made could protect her on runs, but he couldn't protect her when she needed him.

Snapping the bolt at its weak point, Daryl tossed it roughly aside before continuing on his hunt.

* * *

Pulling her knife out of a walker's skull, Amity let herself take a quick breather.

She had been walking for hours at that point and used her momentary break to dig into her duffle bag and snag one of the water bottles she packed.

Again, she felt like she was getting nowhere.

Logically, she knew that she was killing some distance, but her patience was wearing thin.

She needed to find her family. She needed to find _anyone_ from the prison.

Being on her own wasn't easy, it didn't come naturally like it had in the beginning.

It was like how she had dealt with the loss of Michael- there had been so much happening, so much loss and devastation, that she automatically did what she needed to survive.

Now it seemed that she had gotten soft with the normalcy that the prison provided.

She was so used to living at that point that surviving had gotten harder and the loss of her family was hurting her like a knife being constantly twisted in her chest.

* * *

Digging into the cooked meat of the snake that he had caught and killed, Daryl kept his mind completely and utterly focused on the task at hand- eating.

He wouldn't let his mind wander.

He wouldn't let himself wonder if Merle was out there pissing someone off alive or dead.

He wouldn't let himself wonder whether or not Amity had ever eaten snake before.

He couldn't.

"I need a drink." Beth announced suddenly, and the meaning behind the statement was lost on the hunter as he absent-mindedly tossed her a bottle of water.

"No, I mean a _real_ drink." Beth clarified. "As in alcohol."

Her words surprised Daryl, but the hunter didn't entertain them. He was focused on the food in his hands, and that was that.

"I've never had one, 'cause of my dad, but he's not exactly around anymore, so I thought we could go find some." The girl continued.

A beat of silence, apart from the sound of Daryl eating, fell between the pair.

There wasn't any way in hell that Daryl was going out searching for some booze. Shit was pointless in a situation like theirs. He had her ass to watch as well as his own, and he wasn't looking to get hammered and then killed.

"Okay." Beth said, clearly displeased with his lack of response. "Well, enjoy your snake jerky."

Snatching up the knife she continued to use, Beth left camp in a huff and Daryl found his eyes drawn to the fire.

"I'm blamin' you for all this." He told the flames, speaking to the woman he had lost before he pushed himself to his feet in order to follow her former protege.

He easily followed the girl's tracks, only pausing at the sound of walkers. He spotted Beth a few yards ahead of him and watched and waited as she distracted the walkers from her presence.

Only once the sumbitches had moved on did Daryl move forward, his footsteps startling the blonde who whipped around with her knife raised.

Daryl considered her a moment before nodding back the way he came, leading her back to camp.

"I'm pretty sure we got to go that way to find the booze." Beth called out from behind him and he resisted the urge to scoff at her words.

Like hell he was takin' her somewhere to get lit.

"What the hell?" Beth snapped once she realized where he was leading her, her makeshift walker alarm around the edge of camp giving it away.

"You brought me back?" She asked angrily. "I'm not staying in this suck-ass camp!" She snapped, flipping him the bird before moving to storm off but Daryl's patience had worn thin.

The hunter grabbed the girl's arm, tugging her back towards the camp through she struggled against him.

"You had your fun." He growled at her as she stilled her fighting.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you feel anything?" Beth asked him harshly, trying to get a rise out of the seemingly stoic man.

"Yeah, you think everything's screwed. I guess that's a feelin'!" She snapped, continuing on her rampage. "So you want to spend the rest of our lives starin' into a fire and eating mud snakes? _Screw that_. We might as well do _something_."

Daryl wasn't sure what the girl wanted from him other than for him to cater to her every damn whim.

She wanted to look for survivors. She wanted a drink.

He didn't see the damn point!

What was the point in doing anything but surviving when everything and everyone was gone? He was keeping the girl alive like Amity would want, was that not enough?

"I can take care of myself and I'm gonna get a damn drink." Beth hissed at him for good measure once she didn't receive any response from the archer, not that she had been really expecting one before she turned heel and stomped off into the woods, _again_.

* * *

The scuffing of the soles of her boots across asphalt stuck out like a sore thumb in Amity's ears when amongst only the sounds of nature. She heard the cicadas in the trees, birds chirping softly, and the rustling of leaves as a stronger breeze pushed through them.

It was a fairly relaxing symphony, but Amity was anything but relaxed.

Every step that she took had a dull pain radiating through her thigh from the wound she received during the fall of the prison. She still wasn't a hundred percent sure what it was from, but she could only hope it wasn't a rusted piece of metal or bloody weapon.

As much as her injured leg was getting on her nerves, she'd like to keep it.

She continued to trudge on despite the pain. She only had one goal in her mind at that point and that was finding someone from the prison.

She had entertained the idea that she could have been the only survivor from the attack for only about five minutes before she had dismissed it.

Statistically, she couldn't see that being the truth of the matter.

The bus had driven away, she heard it do so, and she knew that Glenn and Beth at least should have been on that bus, meaning Maggie probably was too.

Merle and Daryl were too damn stubborn to die, and frankly, she expanded that reason for survival to include Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Sasha as well. Over half of her family were just too damn stubborn to die.

Michael had went off in search of Lizzie and Mika, that alone made her think that he was alive. The girls should have been on that bus as well, but if they weren't, she had no doubts in her brother's ability and his drive to keep them safe.

They were alive, she knew it in her gut, and that just meant that she had to stay alive and find them.

Hiking the duffle bag she carried further up her shoulder, Amity kept walking on as she tugged the hair tie she had taken from the strip club from her mess of red curls.

Her hair only liked to stay contained for up to an hour at a time, meaning that curls were already tugging free of the bun she had piled them into on the top of her head and the Georgia heat didn't help.

She flipped her hair over her head, bending slightly at the waist as she carefully kept moving forward and swiftly gathered her hair back into a bunch on the top of her head before tying it off into a bun once more.

Standing back up, satisified now that there wasn't flyaway curls tickling her neck, Amity's footsteps stuttered slightly at the sight in front of her.

As hesitant as she had been to follow a road, it had just led her to the ticket to find her family.

Picking up the pace, Amity moved up along one of the old trucks that sat out front of the shop, taking in the sight of the multiple garage doors. Two of the four were pulled open, revealing the random mess of tools and car parts that laid inside along with one or two vehicles.

There was a door in the garage that led out back and one that led to the front office, and Amity decided to take a sweep around the building before going in through the front of the office to clear it.

Dropping her duffle, Amity slid it away to be partially hidden under the truck she was stood by before she checked her weapons and stalked forward.

Keeping low, the woman crept around the building, finding nothing but a large fenced in area filled with vehicles in the back.

Returning to the front, Amity went straight up to the glass front door and peered inside. She saw nothing as her blue eyes scanned the lounge, but that meant shit.

Pulling one of her knives from its sheath on her belt, Amity took a breath before knocking the hilt against the glass door a few times. She stood quietly for a while, watching and waiting for a walker to come stumbling out of its hiding place, but there was nothing.

With that determined, the redhead crouched down and regarded the lock, knowing that she didn't have the skills to pick it but she also didn't want to shatter the door.

Pursing her lips, Amity stood once more, deciding to give the door between the place and the garage a shot.

Creeping through one of the open garage doors, Amity gave herself a second to really look over the garage space and make sure it was clear before she turned her back on it, facing the door that joined the space to the office and reaching out to twist the handle.

It held fast and Amity cursed under her breath.

The door wasn't metal, a fact that surprised her though she never realized how much attention she had paid to the doors in the mechanic shop she went to. Those had been metal though, she was sure of that.

Either way she wasn't upset since now she had a chance of kicking the door in and getting to the vending machine and water cooler she had spotted through the front window.

Taking a step back, the woman figured that she'd need to aim the kick parallel with the lock of the door. Readjusting her weight, Amity brought her foot up and slammed it as hard as she could against the wood of the door, feeling it buckle in a bit but it didn't bust.

Not one to quit, Amity reared back to do it again, the sole of her boot scuffing the already dirty surface of the door as it buckled again, then again.

"Come on you piece of shit!" She hissed, moving to kick it another time, more frustrated than anything else at that point.

"Need some help, sweetheart?"

* * *

Beth was crying again and Daryl found himself no better suited to handle it this time around than he was the first.

She clutched that damn bottle of booze she had dug up after dragging his hick ass through a country club in search of a bar. They found one, but Daryl knew from the start that it wasn't really a chance to get lit that she was looking for.

He crossed the barroom to her, taking the bottle from her hands before promptly smashing it on the floor. She looked at him with wide eyes, obviously caught off guard by his approach and following outburst.

"Ain't gonna have your first drink be no damned peach schnapps." He told her flatly, moving towards the door and nodding his head at it, expecting her to follow him.

He didn't understand the significance of a drink to the blonde that he had put himself in charge of keeping alive, but he had quickly realized that there was some sort of meaning behind it all. It wasn't just that she wanted to get shit-faced, and he reasoned that she wasn't going to stop running off if she didn't find what she was looking for.

With that in mind, Daryl lead their pair back into the woods and towards a place that he had found with Michonne before he had stopped hunting for the Governor.

He never should have stopped.

"A motorcycle mechanic." Beth said suddenly, cutting through his thoughts as he held a branch out to keep it from swinging back and hitting the girl in the face after he had passed.

"Huh?" He asked.

"That's my guess... for what you were doing before the turn." Beth explained. "Did Zack ever guess that one?"

"It don't matter, hasn't mattered for a long time." Daryl told her flatly, shaking his head in disbelief that she was still trying to keep that game alive even now.

"It's just what people talk about, you know, to feel normal." Beth defended.

"Yeah, well, that never felt normal to me." He said just before they pushed through a grove and the house he had been looking for came into view.

"Found this place with Michonne." He explained to his companion.

"I was expecting a liquor store." Beth told him, sounding a bit disappointed but Daryl wasn't put off.

"No, this is better." He promised her, leading the way to the small back shed and tugging open the door.

A small smirk tugged at his lips at the sight of the glass jars filled with liquid and he began to collect them, piling them up in a small crate.

"What's that?" Beth asked, her voice soft next to him.

"Moonshine." He told her, leading the way back to the house.

Once inside, Daryl sat the crate on the small kitchen table, hunting down a glass and taking the lid off of one of the mason jars to pour some of the clear liquid from it into the cup.

"That's a real first drink right there." He told the younger girl, setting the glass down in front of her with a small thud before putting down the jar as well. Glancing up, he saw the hesitation on the blonde's face.

"What's the matter?" He asked her.

"Nothin'." Beth said quickly, her eyes flitting between him and the drink. "It's just my dad always said bad moonshine can make you go blind."

"Ain't nothing worth seeing out there anymore anyway." Daryl reasoned with a shrug, firmly believing as much.

Considering his words, Beth hesitated only a moment longer before taking a sip and immediately making a face of disgust, her face pulling up in a way that would have made Daryl snort out a laugh if they were back at the prison. If he had a small redhead at his side roaring with laughter in a way that made him feel like a chuckle or two was fine to let out.

"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted." Beth told him, reaching out to pour herself another shot of the 'shine and tossing it back.

"Second round's better." She determined, reaching out for the jar again.

"Slow down." Daryl told her.

"This one's for you." She replied with a smile but the hunter shook his head.

"No, I'm good."

"Why?" She questioned.

"Someone's got to keep watch." He excused, already moving across the room so that he could start securing the place.

He had found a few pieces of wood paneling to nail up over the windows.

"So, what, you're like my chaperone now?" Beth asked him, sounding annoyed.

"Just drink lots of water." Daryl advised.

"Yes, Mr. Dixon." The blonde sighed and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her as he nailed up the paneling.

"Who'd go into a store and walk out with this?" Beth asked from behind him, making him turn around to see the stupid novelty ashtray she pulled out that was modeled to look like a pair of tits clad in a red bra.

"My dad, that's who." He scoffed before catching the girl's look.

"Oh, he's a dumbass. He'd set those up on top of the TV set, use them as target practice." He explained further, knowing that her experience with dads was much different than his own.

"He shot things inside your house?" She asked, sounding shocked.

"It was just a bunch of junk anyway." Daryl shrugged. "That's how I knew what this place was."

He finished nailing up the board, stepping away into the center of the room to look around at everything.

"That shed out there, my dad had a place just like this. You got your Dumpster chair." He began to list off, gesturing to an old camouflage recliner. "That's for sitting in your drawers all summer drinking." He moved on to kick at a random bucket on the floor next. "Got your fancy buckets. That's for spitting chaw in after your old lady tells you to stop smoking." Next he help up a newspaper, finally looking over at Beth. "You got your internet."

His small house tour was interrupted by the familiar snarling of a walker from outside. Daryl moved to the window immediately at the sound, peering past the board he had nailed up to see one of the undead looking up at him.

"It's just one of 'em." Daryl informed his companion.

"Should we get it?" She asked.

"If he keeps making too much noise, yeah." He replied, still watching the thing.

"Well, if we're gonna be trapped again, we might as well make the best of it." Beth chirped, drawing Daryl's attention back to her as she wiggled a bottle of the moonshine at him. "Unless you're too busy chaperoning, Mr. Dixon."

He looked at her for a moment before resigning himself to an evening of sipping on the booze to make her happy. He didn't know what it was about Greene's, but from what he had witnessed of them up until then, they were a persistent bunch.

"Hell, might as well make the best of it." He said finally, catching the small smile on the girl's lips as he gave in.

Taking the jar from her, Daryl sat back in the recliner, feeling a bit uncomfortable as he thought about whether or not it was a position he would have been in if the world hadn't gone to hell.

He knew for a fact that he wouldn't have been loving up on a gorgeous doctor, he doubted that he would have even had been able to make eye contact with Amity in the supermarket, let alone spend nights with her tucked against him.

The memories of Amity's body pressed so perfectly alongside of his, of the weight of her arm that she always tossed across his chest in her sleep, left a sour taste in his mouth that he washed away with a more generous swig of moonshine than he had ever intended to take.

"Home, sweet home." He declared.

A few drinks later and Beth was sitting on the floor across the small coffee table from Daryl, looking at him expectantly as she tried to explain some game to him.

"So first I say something I've never done and if you have done it, you drink, and if you haven't, I drink. Then we switch." She explained, gesturing between them with her hands as she spoke before catching the blankness behind his eyes. "You really don't know this game?"

"I never needed a game to get lit before." Daryl told her with a small shrug.

"Wait, are we starting?" She asked, not sure if that was his go or not.

"How do you know this game?" Daryl asked her, narrowing his eyes a bit.

"My friends played. I watched." Beth said with a innocent shrug of her shoulders, and honestly, Daryl believed her.

The girl had said that it was going to be her first drink and he didn't know what she'd gain from lying about it now.

"Okay, I'll start." Beth said, interrupting his thoughts. "I've never shot a crossbow. So now you drink."

Daryl did as directed, but he couldn't help but scoff lightly at the statement. It was too easy.

"Ain't much of a game." He told her.

"That was a warm-up." Beth defended. "Now you go."

"I don't know." Daryl grumbled after a moment, not liking being put on the spot.

"Just say the first thing that pops into your head." The girl insisted.

After a moment of consideration, Daryl thought up something and muttered, "I've never been out of Georgia."

"Really? Okay, good one." Beth said, taking his statement in stride and sipping from her drink.

"I've never been drunk and did something I regretted." She added after taking only a few seconds to think up a statement.

Daryl twisted his lips a bit before raising his jar to them, taking a drink like the rules dictated.

"I've done a lot of things." He reasoned softly.

"Your turn." Beth encouraged.

"I've never been on vacation." Daryl told her.

"What about camping?" She asked.

"No, that was just something I had to learn to hunt." He defended his statement and the blonde nodded slowly.

"Your dad teach you?" She wondered.

"Mm-hmm." Daryl hummed, tilting his head as he waited for her to think up the next statement.

"Okay. I've never been in jail. I mean, as a prisoner." Beth told him, the wry smile on her lips going straight to his head and making his temper flare.

The point of the game was to try to get the other to drink, to say things that you hadn't done but were sure that the other person had and little Miss Farm Girl went straight for prison.

"Is that what you think of me?" Daryl asked her, his gruff voice low.

"I didn't mean anything serious. I just thought, you know, like the drunk tank. Even my dad got locked up for that back in the day." Beth said, trying to clarify what she meant but it didn't make a difference.

Daryl's temper was lit and the alcohol was just fuel.

"Drink up." He ordered her.

"Wait, prison guard." She tried. "Were you a prison guard before?"

"No." He snapped.

"It's your turn again." Beth told him, her tone cautious but Daryl had enough of the stupid game she was trying to play and pushed himself to his feet.

"I'm gonna take a piss." He announced, stomping over to the corner of the kitchen, kicking a bucket out of his way.

"You have to be quiet." Beth hissed from behind him, but he paid her no mind.

Alcohol fueled his actions and Daryl unzipped his jeans, taking a piss against the wall of the kitchen, not bothering to be discreet about it in any way.

"Can't hear you! I'm taking a piss!" He called out, flaunting his annoyance like a damn peacock.

"Daryl, don't talk so loud!" Beth insisted.

"What, are you my chaperone now?" He asked her, rounding on the girl after he had zipped back up his pants. "Oh, wait. It's my turn, right?"

He stalked across the kitchen towards her, anger clear in his expression as he snarled at her.

"I've never- never eaten frozen yogurt! Never had a pet pony! Never got nothin' from Santa Claus!" He roared, kicking over one of the kitchen chairs. "Never relied on anyone for protection before! Hell, I don't think I've ever relied on anyone for _anythin'_!"

"Daryl." Beth's voice rang out, trying to cut through his rampage but he wasn't finished.

"Never sung out in front of a big group out in public like everythin' was _fun_! Like everythin' was a big _game_. I sure as hell never cut my wrists lookin' for attention!"

The moans of the walker outside grew louder as Daryl's outburst continued, riling it up further.

"Sounds like our friend out there is trying to call all of his buddies." Daryl said, hearing the thing and making a decision right then to take care of the sumbitch.

"Daryl, just shut up." Beth snapped at him.

"Hey, you never shot a crossbow before?" He asked, yanking his up from where it rested on the kitchen table. "I'm gonna teach you right now."

He crossed the room towards her, pulling open the front door and looking back at her.

"Come on. It's gonna be fun." He called over, his jovial words made manic by the growl in his tone.

"We should stay inside." Beth tried to reason, but Daryl wasn't game. He moved across the room and grabbed the young blonde by her arm, pulling her out of the house and down the front porch steps.

"Daryl, cut it out!" She cried out, trying to pull herself away from the hunter.

He wasn't hurting her, but he was pissing her off and that was enough to want him away from her.

"Dumbass. Come here, dumbass." Daryl called out to the walker as he drug Beth closer, rounding the side of the house to spot it.

He shot a bolt through the creature's chest, pinning it to the tree behind it.

"Daryl." Beth tried again.

"You want to shoot?" He asked her roughly.

"I don't know how."

"Oh, it's easy. Come here." He insisted, pulling her closer and stretching an arm across her chest, bracing the crossbow in both his hands and hers.

"Right corner." He called and shot, sending another through the walker but not killing it.

"Let's practice later." Beth said, struggling away from him once more.

"Come on, it's fun." Daryl taunted.

"Just stop it!" Beth snapped, but the man was reaching for her again. "Daryl!"

"Come here." He requested, lining up another shot with her, but Beth had had enough of his jackass behavior.

Without anymore hesitation and unwillingness to hurt him, the blonde shoved the heel of her boot harshly down on the laces of his. The pain surprised the hunter, but his hold on her didn't waver until Beth sent an elbow sharply into his solar plexus, winding him as she pulled away.

Yanking her knife from her belt, Beth stalked towards the pinned walker and shoved her blade into its forehead, ignoring the gasping from her companion as she did so.

"What the hell you do that for?" Daryl growled out once he had caught his breath. "I was having fun."

"No, you were being a jackass!" Beth snapped at him. "If anyone found my dad-"

"Don't." Daryl said, cutting her off. "That ain't remotely the same."

"Killing them is not supposed to be fun." Beth reminded him.

"What do you want from me, girl, huh?" Daryl asked her, not understanding why she kept insisting that he joined her mindset. That he talked to her and went looking for booze with her. That he drank and sat and played pointless games.

"I want to you stop acting like you don't give a crap about anything! Like nothing we went through matters. Like none of the people we lost meant anything to you. It's bullshit!" Beth yelled in his face, sobering the man up.

"Is that what you think?" He asked, his voice quieter than it had been since their game ended.

"That's what I _know_." Beth replied.

"You don't know nothin'." Daryl growled at her.

"I know you look at me and you just see another dead girl." Beth stated, holding his gaze even as he felt his stomach churn uncomfortably.

"I'm not Carol. I'm not Maggie. I'm not _Amity_!" She snapped and Daryl couldn't stop the small flinch at the sound of the name he had been avoiding saying since they escaped the prison.

"I've survived and you don't get it 'cause I'm not like you or them. But I made it and you don't get to treat me like crap just because you're afraid!" Beth yelled at him.

"I ain't afraid of nothin'." Daryl growled, feeling like a kicked dog back into a corner.

"I remember." Beth stated, her voice more even now. "When that little girl came out of the barn after my mom. You were like me, and now God forbid you ever let anybody get too close."

"Too close, huh? You know all about that. Ya lost two boyfriends, and ya can't even shed a tear!" Daryl snapped at her as she poked at every soft spot that the man had. "Your whole family's gone, all you can do is just go out looking for hooch like some dumb college bitch!"

"Screw you. You don't get it." Beth told him, shaking her head.

"No, _you_ don't get it!" He countered. "Everyone we know is dead!"

"You don't know that!" Beth insisted.

"Might as well be, 'cause you ain't never gonna see 'em again. Rick. I ain't never gonna see him again, not Merle, not- not Amity. You ain't never gonna see Maggie again." Daryl told her, the heat from his voice dropping abruptly.

"Daryl, just stop." Beth pleaded with him.

"No!" He snapped, pulling away from the girl as she tried to touch him. "The Governor rolled right up to our gates."

He couldn't stop his voice from breaking now, his breath hitching in his throat as emotion welled inside of him like a dam that had been busted through. "Maybe if I wouldn't have stopped lookin', maybe 'cause I gave up. That's on me."

"Daryl." Beth said softly, reaching out for him again.

"No- and your dad. Maybe, maybe I could have done something." He croaked, his throat tight and it seemed that Beth had heard enough.

The small blonde threw herself at the archer, her arms wrapping around him from behind as she rested her cheek against the cool leather of his vest. All of the time that she had been trying to get him to show emotion had piled up into this moment and now that he was feeling again, she wasn't going to leave him to do it alone.

She grasped him tightly as a sob tore through his chest, his broad figure trembling as he let go and stopped fighting the grief that threatened to pull him under, and all the while Beth just held him.

* * *

The sound of another voice in the space, a voice that wasn't her own, had Amity whipping around with wide eyes.

Her breath hitched as she took in the man standing only a few paces away, his face unfamiliar to her.

"Looked like you were havin' a hard time." The man said, a crooked grin on his lips as he looked her over.

"I'm just fine actually." Amity replied firmly, having found her voice and deciding that this wasn't a situation to play meek Mary in. She wanted him to know that she wasn't someone to mess with.

"You hear that, boys, little lady's got it!" The man called out, confusing Amity for a moment before she glanced over and spotted five other men shooting the shit around the front of the building, only coming over into the garage area now that their group member had called out for them.

 _Shit._

How had she not heard them?

Had she gone temporarily deaf or something?

She knew that after the good luck she had by finding the strip club yesterday that her luck was bound to run out. She just hadn't thought it would be this abrupt, or this bad.

"She's got somethin', man. That's for sure." One of the guys said as he joined them in the garage, blocking the nearest garage door and, in turn, her nearest path of escape.

Thinking fast, Amity's calculating eyes flickered between each of the men that were slowly filling up the space around her, sending her heart into hyperdrive in her chest.

"Take it easy, girlie. Look like you're about to pop a vein." The man who had first approached her said, taking a step nearer which had Amity's hand moving to her belt.

Immediately, the woman was met with the barrel of five other guns, the quickness of their draw letting the woman know that this group hadn't survived purely on chance.

"Well, as you can see, I'm obviously not getting into that room." Amity said, her voice slow and soothing as she moved her hands away from her belt in an attempt to appease the men around her.

"So, I'll just be going then. If y'all can get in there, I saw some food and stuff so... good tidings." She continued, side-stepping away from the door and towards the garage exit, hoping that the men would just let her past.

"Whoa there, sweetheart. There's no reason to be rushin' off like that, right, boys?" The first man, who now Amity was realizing that was perhaps their leader, said and received mutters of agreement from the rest of his group.

Amity stopped her make for the exit, not fancying having a bullet lodged in her anytime soon and looked back at the man.

"It don't make much sense to me why a young lady like yourself would be out here all on your lonesome." The leader said, sauntering forward in a way that made Amity want to break his knees.

"You must be lost or somethin', huh, Red? That's alrigh'. We'll get you sorted out in no time." He reassured her, though his words served to do nothing but send a chill down Amity's spine.

"In the meantime, the name's Kipp."

* * *

"I get why my dad stopped drinking." Beth said from where she was sat on the front porch, Daryl perched on a bucket across from her.

"You feel sick?" He asked, running an old rag over his bolts.

"Nope." Beth replied, popping the p. "I wish I could feel like this all the time, and that's bad."

The hunter hummed, nodding his head a bit.

"You're lucky you're a happy drunk." He told her.

"Yeah, I'm lucky. Some people can be real jerks when they drink." Beth taunted and Daryl glanced over at her, catching the teasing glint in her eyes and nodding his head in agreement.

"Yeah, I'm a dick when I'm drunk." He admitted, sighing softly to himself.

He knew that if he had acted like that at any other point throughout the time the group was together that Amity would have beaten his ass six ways til Sunday. It wasn't something that would have flown, and he shifted uncomfortably at the thought that she could be unhappy with his outburst now, looking down on him from wherever.

That girl was bound to go to heaven, there was no doubt in his mind about that. She was too damn good, too understanding. Kind-hearted enough to keep a jackass like himself around, even with Merle being added into the picture.

"Merle had this dealer." Daryl spoke up suddenly, not knowing why he was about to tell this girl a story from his past, but the words were pouring forward.

"This janky little white guy. A tweaker." He explained. "One day we were over at his house watching TV, wasn't even noon yet and we were all wasted. Merle was high. We were watching this show and Merle was talking all this dumb stuff about it- and he wouldn't let up. Merle never could."

Shaking his head at the thought of his brother, the hunter continued, "Turns out it was the tweaker's kids' favorite show and he never sees his kids, so he felt guilty about it or something. So he punches Merle in the face and I started hitting the tweaker, like, _hard_. As hard as I can. Then he pulls a gun, sticks it right here."

Daryl tapped two fingers against his temple, looking over to Beth as he carried on with his story. "He says, 'I'm gonna kill you, bitch. ' So Merle pulls his gun on him and everyone's yelling. I'm yelling. I thought I was dead over a dumb cartoon about a talking dog."

"How'd you get out of it?" Beth asked once Daryl had trailed off.

"The tweaker punched me in the gut. I puked. They both started laughing and forgot all about it." Daryl told her, shaking his head again before scoffing at himself.

"Ya want to know what I was before all this?" He asked the girl who nodded. "A mechanic, you were right, but I really was just driftin' around with Merle doing whatever he said we were gonna be doing that day. I was _nobody_. _Nothin'_. Some redneck asshole and an even bigger asshole for a brother."

"You miss him, don't you?" Beth asked gently. "I miss Maggie. I miss her bossing me around." She smiled softly at that.

"Ain't never had a little sister." Daryl said, looking at the blonde through his bangs.

Beth considered the gruff man for a moment before smiling at him, leaning forward towards him.

"Now you do." She told him firmly, and Daryl was at a loss for a response to that.

He looked at her with searching eyes, trying to find the joke that wasn't there as she leaned back into her seat once more, still smiling softly.

"I miss my big brother, Shawn." She began. "He was so annoying and overprotective... and my dad. I thought- I hoped he'd just live the rest of his life in peace, you know? I thought Maggie and Glenn would have a baby. And he'd get to be a grandpa. And we'd have birthdays and holidays and summer picnics. And he'd get really old. And it'd happen, but it'd be quiet. It'd be okay. He'd be surrounded by people he loved." Beth said, her voice growing soft as she explained her wishes she had held for her family.

"That's how unbelievably stupid I am." She stated after, her voice hitching as she held back tears.

"That's how it was supposed to be." Daryl said.

"I wish I could just change." She whispered.

"You did." The man insisted.

"Not enough. Not like you. It's like you were made for how things are now." Beth reasoned.

"I'm just used to it, things being ugly. Growin' up in a place like this." Daryl explained. Whether he was better suited for this world or not because of the life he had lived, he would have traded it for one like Beth's in a heartbeat.

"Well, you got away from it." The girl told him.

"I didn't." He countered.

"You did." She insisted.

"Maybe you got to keep on remindin' me sometimes." Daryl conceded, looking down at his hands.

"No." Beth told him firmly, his eyes snapping up to her again. "You can't depend on anybody for anythin', right?"

His silence wasn't enough of an answer for her.

"I'll be gone someday-" She began but Daryl cut her off.

"Stop."

"I will." She said. "You're gonna be the last man standing."

The hunter balked a bit at that, not enjoying the statement as much as he maybe should have. He had already lost so much. He had lost his best friends, his brother, the love of his damn life, and it _hurt_. It was tearing him apart, but Beth was there and that gave him purpose. It gave him something to do rather than just let his redneck ass turn to walker bait.

Being the last one standing, it didn't sound like something he wanted anything to do with.

"You are." Beth confirmed one last time before smiling gently. "You're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon."

Her words hung between them for a moment before Daryl had to break the tension they held.

"You ain't a happy drunk at all." He informed her, correcting his earlier statement.

"Yeah, I'm happy. I'm just not blind." Beth reasoned, still looking closely at the man. "You got to stay who you are, not who you were. Places like this, you have to put it away."

"What if you can't?" Daryl asked her softly.

"You have to. Or it kills you." She tapped her heart. "Here."

Daryl watched the girl a moment longer and she held his gaze without backing down, pulling a quick nod from the hunter before he was pushing himself to his feet.

"We should go inside." He told her.

"We should burn it down." Beth countered, making the man pause.

His first thought was that the youngest Greene was going more and more off the deep end by the second, but then he saw relief in her plan. The pleasure and closure that it would bring him to watch the house that so closely resembled his childhood home being burnt to the ground was worth a shot.

"We're gonna need more booze." He told her, making the girl laugh.

Beth and Daryl took their time spreading the jars of moonshine all over the walls and floors of the house. Daryl pointedly dumped an entire jar on the camo recliner, sneering as he did so before smashing the jar on the ground.

Once there was only a couple of bottles left, Daryl gestured for Beth to follow him outside and made a trail of the booze across the porch, leading it inside.

"You wanna?" He asked his companion once they were stood in the yard and he had pulled a pack of matches from his coat.

"Hell yeah." Beth replied, taking the matches immediately and lighting one. She barely hesitated before tossing the lit match onto the porch, the alcohol catching fast and spreading faster.

Daryl watched the flames climb higher with satisfaction warming his chest and he nodded once to himself, before taking a step back, ready to leave the place behind him.

Beth didn't follow though and that had him pausing, watching as the girl flipped the house the bird. Beth held fast in her action, nudging him to do the same, and only once they both felt like they had said a big enough fuck you to the place, they ducked into the woods.

* * *

"You got a name, girl?" One of the men asked, and Amity had to resist the urge to make a face at him.

She didn't like how the word Daryl so often grumbled at her fell from this man's lips.

"Course she's got a name, Jude. Dumbass." One of the other men told the man who had asked, Jude apparently, and Jude looked at him like he was an idiot. Which was fair enough in Amity's opinion.

"We could just call her Cherry." Kipp suggested with a lewd grin, gesturing to the word that was stamped across the tank top she had taken from the bar.

Immediately Amity tensed, the displeasure clear enough on her face even if she wouldn't have snapped, "No."

"Whoo-wee, sweetheart. Didn't mean to step on your toes." Kipp said, holding his hands up in mock surrender but laughing loudly, as if the thought of submitting to her was just that ridiculous.

"Meant no harm by it. Just wanted to know what to call you so we can help you get back to your people." He reasoned.

"I don't have any people." Amity told him flatly, not taking a moment to ruminate on whether that was good to reveal or not.

"Ain't no way a little thing like you is out here alone." One of the men drawled out and Amity shrugged.

"Well, I am, so what does that tell you about my capabilities, Hoss?" She asked, her tone carrying an edge that had Kipp laughing again.

"Better watch out, Jimmy. Got us a live one." Another hooted.

Amity was starting to panic, which was never good. She was backed into a corner and these men were obviously not the slightest bit threatened by her presence.

Why would they be? She was barely armed and they had her outnumbered 6 to 1.

"Now, it was nice talking to you all, but as I've said before, I'll just be going..." She tried to get out of the place once more, taking a step towards the exit but then Kipp was stalking towards her and she found herself freezing.

"Sweetheart, I think it's best that you stay right here." He told her, leaning in close so that his hot breath fanned over her cheek.

She didn't have a chance to respond before a sharp pain erupted on the back of her head and the world fell into darkness.


	35. Chapter 35

"I'm going to rip your throat out with my teeth." Amity told the men around her, the words that she wanted to be said so casually coming out as a snarl instead as she strained against the wires that bound her wrists.

Amity had woken up a couple of hours before to find herself tied up with another pounding headache, the sun rising on the horizon, which sent her into a panic. She had been out for hours apparently, but as she did a mental check she found that the only thing out of place on her was that her weapons were gone.

It was little comfort, but it was enough to let her calm down and assess the situation she found herself in.

"I'm sure you are, sugar. Make it nice and slow, would ya?" Jude replied, being the man that was the closest to her.

His leering green eyes hadn't left her since the moment the men had her bound to one of the vehicles within the garage.

"For you, of course." She sneered, trying to ignore the growing pain in her wrists as she continued to struggle in an attempt to get free.

"Gonna hurt yourself there, _Cherry_. Ain't much for damaged goods so I suggest you start sittin' still before I put a bullet between those pretty blue eyes of yours." Kipp called out casually from where he was sat fiddling with his pack, his voice having the woman freezing immediately.

She wasn't sure what it was about the man compared to the others, but he had her skin crawling with one glance.

Amity was certain that she could take out the men like Jude, Jimmy, and even the Hispanic man, Matias, without much trouble, but their leader was another story.

He wasn't even that intimidating physically, he was bigger than her of course, they all were, but he had a presence about him that told her he wasn't one to mess with.

"What's the matter, sugar? Finally bitin' that tongue of yours." Jude stage whispered to her, obviously amused with the way Kipp got to her. "I can think of a couple things for you to do with it instead before it gets too sore."

The moment of fear passed as quick as it came and Amity's temper flared up once more, her eyes narrowing as she turned to look at Jude.

"In your dreams, shitface. I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole." She hissed at the man, annoyed when his smile just widened.

"All in due time, sugar. Just you wait." He practically purred at her.

* * *

"Are we close?" Beth asked, slightly out of breath from Daryl and her's current trudge through the forest.

"Almost done." Daryl replied, his eyes on the ground as they kept moving.

The two had lit out from the house they sent up in flames the night before and stopped a mile or so out to make a temporary camp. After they both got some rest, they set out again without any real goal in mind besides Daryl's personal one of teaching Beth a bit about tracking and shooting his bow along the way.

Amity had done her part with training up the blonde's hand-to-hand, gun handling, and her general confidence, but now it was Daryl's turn. He might not know a lot, but he knew hunting and tracking.

"How do you know?" Beth questioned him.

"The signs are all there. Just got to know how to read 'em." He told her, gesturing to the ground.

"What are we tracking?" She asked, seemingly chock full of questions that morning.

"You tell me." Daryl suggested, catching the look that Beth threw at him and shrugging.

"You're the one who wanted to learn." He reminded her.

Apparently deciding that Daryl had a point, Beth leaned down closer to the ground to take in the tracks that Daryl had set about following for the past hour or so.

"Well, something came through here." She told him and he nodded, following her along quietly, waiting patiently for her to tell him what she concluded.

"The pattern is all zig-zaggy, so it's a walker!" She deduced.

"Maybe it's a drunk." Daryl quipped back, watching as Beth playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm getting good at this." She told him. "Pretty soon I won't need you at all."

That brought a scoff from the man.

"Yeah, keep on trackin'." He directed and tracking she did.

He followed the blonde for another half an hour or so, making sure she was on track by checking the trail behind her until a clearing came into view and the sound of a walker reached their ears.

Crouching low now, the two sidled forward until the walker was visible.

Without a word, Daryl handed his crossbow over to the girl and waited for her to move forward, letting her take point while he stayed ready to intervene if she needed it.

"It's got a gun" She whispered over her shoulder to him, receiving a nod in return.

"Take a breath, steady, and squeeze." Daryl muttered softly, reminding her of the steps that they had practiced.

Beth didn't reply but took a few more steps into the clearing the walker paying her no mind as it munched away. Once she was close enough, the girl paused and squeezed the trigger.

The bolt skewered the walker's skull and Beth let out a small whoop of triumph that had Daryl smirking as he joined her side.

"Make an archer outta you yet, Blondie." Daryl told her, looking over at the younger girl who beamed at him.

"I'm already an archer, Daryl. Amity taught me how to shoot her compound bow." Beth informed him, only looking regretful for her words a second after saying them.

Silence fell between the pair as Daryl's smirk faded and he turned away from the girl, crouching down to pull his bolt roughly from the walker's skull before wiping it on the sumbitch's shirt.

"You know, she could still be alive, Daryl." Beth said from behind him when the man stayed crouched down for longer than exactly necessary.

"If anyone could have gotten out of there, it would be her." She added, trying to convince the man of as much.

Beth wasn't looking to give Daryl false hope, she was just looking to share with him some of the hope that she held. She had called Amity dead along with Carol and Maggie when yelling at the hunter the day before, but she didn't think they were.

Not truly.

She couldn't imagine a world where Amity had been taken out that fast and easy.

"The walkers wouldn't have gotten her and she's too good for any of the Governor's people to have killed her either. She's out there." Beth reasoned.

"She ain't." Daryl said from where he remained crouched, his gruff voice thicker than usual.

"She could be!" Beth insisted. "And you know it! You're scared of looking, Daryl and that's okay, but are you gonna let you being scared keep you from finding her?"

She received no response from the man and couldn't help but sigh.

"You love her." She stated, that having the man looking sharply up at her. "You don't have to say it for me to know that you do. Everyone in the prison knew. She loves you too, both of you are just too dense to say as much."

Stepping forward as Daryl rose to his feet, Beth jabbed a finger into the man's chest.

"You gonna leave the woman you love out there without you?" She asked him, looking up into his eyes with a fierceness that he hadn't been expecting.

The man grunted in reply, the noise noncommittal but he snatched his crossbow from where it hung in one of her hands and started across the clearing.

"Where are you going?" Beth yelled at his back.

"To find the damn bus." He tossed over his shoulder, pulling a smile from the blonde.

"That's more like it." Beth muttered to herself before pushing her hair out of her face and jogging off after the gruff hunter.

* * *

"Drink it. You haven't had any liquids since we found ya." Jimmy directed from where he had kneeled down next to Amity.

"Get fucked." The woman spat at him, receiving a sigh in return.

"You want to be tied up and thirsty as hell, be my fucking guest, but it's damn stupid." He snapped at her in return, holding out the bottle of water once more.

Amity eyed the bottle then Jimmy, making her wariness of it apparent.

"It ain't poisoned or nothin', girl. Why would we take the trouble of tyin' you up just to kill you?" He asked her.

"Could be drugged." Amity retorted and Jimmy rolled his eyes before taking a healthy swig of the liquid himself.

"There, see? Now just take a fucking drink!" He said and finally, Amity gave in.

In all honesty, she was starving as well as being parched, but water was definitely in greater need to her than food was.

She could find food once she got away from them.

Swallowing a few healthy gulps of water, Amity leaned back from the man as Jude approached and knocked Jimmy's elbow forward, sloshing the bottle of water and sending the liquid spilling all across the redhead.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Amity snapped, looking from her soaked shirt to the man who had caused the spill, the smirk on his lips letting her know that it was definitely purposeful.

"Woopsie daisy there, Jimmy boy. Got our ray of fuckin' sunshine soaked down to her drawers." Jude drawled out, his eyes raking over the tank top that now clung to Amity's form.

The woman kicked out at him, knocking the steel toe of her boot right into the side of the man's knee and sending him to the floor with a howl of pain.

"Woopsie daisy there, Judey boy. Seems like you lost your balance." She sing-songed, ignoring the rest of the men's laughter as she felt Kipp's eyes on her, heavy as lead.

She felt her heart pounding in her chest, wondering what the repercussion was going to be for her actions until she heard the man's deep laugh.

"Better watch your step, Jude. You'll break a damn leg or somethin'. We'll have to put you down like a lame horse." Kipp drawled out and though Amity despised and feared Kipp herself, she took great pleasure in watching the blood drain from Jude's face as he comprehended what his leader said.

"You better watch yourself, bitch." Jude growled at Amity as he scurried to his feet, favoring his left leg, but obviously trying not to show as much.

* * *

"What makes you so sure this is the right way?" Beth asked Daryl as the trudged through the woods that all looked the same to her.

"Because I'm not a damn idiot." Daryl stated simply, casting his blue eyes to the trees around them as they hiked, his crossbow held slightly aloft in his hands.

They were getting close to the side road that led to the prison, the one that they had planned on the bus being sent down if things went to shit and they needed a quick escape.

Boy, had things went to shit.

As the trees thinned, Daryl's tension went up and Beth picked up on it almost immediately.

They breached the tree line and at the sight of the road, they both took a look either way.

"We're about a mile or so up from the prison." Daryl told Beth who nodded.

"They would have made it farther than this." She told him with complete confidence, lending some to him in a way that made him feel like a damn pussy to admit even to himself.

"Let's go, stay inside the tree line." Daryl directed and they moved back towards the trees, following alongside the road.

Another four miles and the pair caught sight of something in the distance that made their stomachs drop.

The bus, abandoned and with a trail of bodies laid out behind it.

"Oh no." Beth breathed out, one hand raising to her chest as they continued to move closer.

Upon reaching the bus, Daryl scanned the faces of each of the dead almost frantically, sickly relieved when Amity's face wasn't among them.

That didn't mean she was alive though.

"She's alive, Daryl. We just have to keep lookin'." Beth said from behind him, as if the girl could read his thoughts.

He nodded once at her words, swallowing hard before nodding back to the woods. They'd continue to follow the road.

Jogging down the incline of the ditch leading to the woods, Daryl's heart leapt to his throat when he heard Beth yelp from behind him.

Whipping around with his crossbow raised, the man was surprised to see no threat but the blonde was on the ground all the same.

"I tripped." Beth said through clenched teeth, motioning behind her to a twisted piece of metal that stuck out of the ground.

Shaking his head, Daryl moved over to her, crouching down and gently lifting her foot up to rest on his bent knee.

"Can ya move it?" He asked her, eyes flickering between her face and her foot as she wiggled it.

"Yeah." She told him and he nodded, looking at the road next to them.

It seemed that they were going to have to put their search on hold.

"I can still walk, Daryl." Beth said, playing mind reader again.

The hunter simply stood up and offered her his hand, pulling her to her feet and letting her test the weight on her ankle.

"See? Good as gold." She stated, biting back a wince as she put pressure on the joint.

"Damn liar." He grunted, looping an arm around her waist to help her get down the slope and into the woods.

"We'll find a place for the rest of today and tonight. Get that ankle wrapped and tackle tomorrow, tomorrow." He told her, ignoring her sigh as he did so.

* * *

Amity observed the group as they moved about with their day, taking note of who came and went and how often, or who spent too much time staring at her or avoiding the sight of her.

Amity's past profession came into play now, and she decided that while her degrees didn't help when it came to fighting or feeding herself in this new world, they did come into use when around strangers.

Two of the men avoided her like the plague, choosing to spend most of their time outside of the garage and by the noise she heard out there, they were messing with one of the cars.

Jude and another one of the men's eyes lingered on her in a way that made Amity's skin itch.

Jimmy seemed carefully indifferent to her presence.

And then there was Kipp.

Kipp was dangerous, that much Amity knew from the moment she had turned around at the sound of his voice.

The man kept his hand hidden and that was concerning. He had his men on a tight leash and with the way he would laugh then threaten her in the ame breath, Amity was fairly certain that the volatile man would be the one to kill her.

Dying was less of a concern to her than the chance of him letting Jude and the other creep play out whatever sick fantasies were running through their minds when they sat back and stared at her.

She had already dealt with the wandering hands and threats of the Governor, she would rather be gutted than deal with it again.

"Why don't ya like being called Cherry, _Cherry_?" Kipp drawled out suddenly, breaking the distracted silence in the room. The woman noted how everyone's attention immediately turned to the man when he spoke, the men's eyes only leaving him to turn to her, waiting for her answer.

 _Hope they hold their fucking breath._

Amity wasn't looking to get chatty with the men who had knocked her out and tied her up. She found herself hoping that the walkers picked them off one by one, preferably within the next couple of hours.

"I reckon it was already a nickname of yours, ain't that righ'?" Kipp guessed, standing up from where he had been lounging in the front seat of the only other car in the garage, the one that Amity _wasn't_ tied to.

She watched him as he sauntered towards her, taking in his dark hair that was pushed back from his face in a way that she would have assumed was thanks to the help of hair product, but in this world she knew that it was most likely just grease, sweat, and dirt.

The man kept his beard closely shaved and looked to be in his early forties. It was his eyes that had her on edge. They didn't hold malice or anger, they just didn't seem to hold anything at all.

"Who was it then? Your daddy or momma?" He asked, watching her face. "Best friend?"

He shook his head after that guess, apparently not seeing what he wanted from the woman.

"How about a _lover_?" He questioned, drawing out the last word before laughing when her face apparently gave something away despite how schooled she thought she had it.

"Of course it was a man, sweetheart. Big and strong, was he? Saved you from this world, huh?" Kipp taunted.

"I saved myself, asshole." Amity snapped, flinching back as the man quickly kneeled by her side, one of his hands reaching out to grab her chin, his hold not painful but rough enough so that she was turning her head when he directed.

"Where's your big strong man now, girl?" He growled, the smirk on his lips freezing her blood in its veins. "Ain't nobody gonna save you now. Not even yourself."

His grip on her face tightened as his other hand found one of her belt loops, giving it a sharp tug as he searched for a reaction for her and a reaction was what he got.

"Don't fucking touch me!" Amity spat at him, trying to slam her head forehead to bust his nose but his fingers dug roughly into her cheeks, stopping the action.

"I ain't lookin' to touch you. I'm just lookin' to keep my people in high spirits." Kipp informed her, his fingers at her belt buckle now. "You've got fire, Cherry. That's somethin' I can appreciate. I'm sure my boys will too."

Tugging the leather free, Kipp made quick work of unfastening Amity's belt even as she struggled against him, cursing and spitting like a feral cat.

Only once he had pulled the belt free and folded it in his hand did Kipp rise.

"Evenin' entertainment is open for business, boys." The man called out as he looked down at Amity who was now struggling against her bonds again, the pain barely fazing her in her desperation to get free.

"Don't damage her too bad. I like that mouth of hers." He ordered, moving away as the woman continued to struggling, catching sight of all of the men standing around the garage now and Jude coming towards her with a pleased grin.

* * *

It had only taken a couple of hours for Daryl to hunt down a place for them to hunker down in, but that hour had taken a toll on Beth's ankle.

"Can we- can we hold up a sec?" The girl asked from behind him and Daryl turned to look at her, seeing the pain in the tightness of her expression.

"Ya alright?" He asked and she nodded.

"I just need to sit down." Beth excused.

The hunter nodded, moving to her side to help her sit down carefully on an old bench.

He turned to scan the area as she took her break, looking out over the small lawn in front of them that he was sure had once been fairly well-kept. Now the small house that they had come across was hidden behind overgrown bushes, but that was good for their cause since a main road was only a few yards off to the side of the place.

"Alright." Beth announced after a couple of seconds, moving to stand again but Daryl could see she was spent.

"Hold up." He directed her, readjusting his crossbow to hang on his side before moving and crouching down a bit with his back towards her. "Hop on."

"Are you serious?" Beth asked, sounding more than a little shocked.

"Yeah. This is a serious piggyback." Daryl replied, crouching a bit lower.

"Jump up." He directed and after a second's hesitation, the girl did.

Standing, Daryl hooked his arms under her knees, bouncing her up a bit to adjust how her weight rested.

"You're heavier than you look." Daryl informed her, receiving a small laugh in return.

He carried her across the yard and up the front path of the house, leaving her on the porch as he made quick work of clearing the place.

It wasn't all that big so it didn't take long.

Soon enough, Beth was seated in a kitchen chair and Daryl was wrapping up her swollen ankle with some gauze that he had found in the bathroom. It looked like this place held a soccer player from the amount of the leg wraps and trophies in one of the bedrooms.

"That too tight?" He asked and Beth shook her head, humming softly to herself as she watched the man work.

"Thanks, Daryl." She told him, her voice soft and he looked up at her briefly before nodding, feeling proud in that moment that he could at least do one thing right when it came to helping the girl out.

At first his care of Beth came from feeling like he owed Hershel, owed Amity, but the more time he spent with her, he realized that he wanted to care for her and keep her safe because she meant something to him.

She wasn't talking bull when she declared that he had a little sister now, not that he had ever had the yearning for one before, but it wasn't a relationship that he hated.

It was pulling together some of the empty in his chest, tiny piece by tiny piece.

* * *

"Don't touch me!" Amity screamed as Jude stalked towards her, the look in his eye leaving no mystery to the 'entertainment' that he would be seeking from her.

"I swear to fucking god that I will skin you alive." She snarled, blinking back tears as she ripped and bucked against her restraints, her words being the only defense that she had against the men now.

She couldn't pull herself free, her shoulders were aching something fierce and she couldn't even think about the pain in her wrists.

She kicked her feet out at Jude as he stopped in front of her, screaming and hollering in a way that she knew would be making her look out of her mind.

Good, maybe they would get a hint.

"Shh, shhh, shh. Easy there, sugar." Jude purred as he dropped to the ground just out of the reach of her frantically kicking feet.

Reaching out, he wrapped big hands around her shins, pressing them firmly against the ground so that she was now well and truly pinned.

Her mind was short-circuiting as she struggled helplessly against the hold, sobs threatening to tear through her but she bit them back. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of making her cry- no matter what happened.

"You son of a bitch, I'll get out of here. I will and when I do I'm going to fucking castrate you!" Amity half-screamed, yelling just so that she wouldn't whimper as Jude pinned her legs under one of his, his hands tugging the button of her jeans loose and pulling down her zipper.

"Keep talkin', sugar. Tell me them fantasies." He requested, his voice muffled as he buried his face in the curve of her neck, his tongue running across her skin as his free hand kept her mouth a safe distance from his skin with pressure under her chin.

Her jeans were tugged over the curve of her hips, sliding easily down her thighs, and exposing the lacy underwear that she had taken from the strip club and she heard a heavy groan nearby even through the sound of Jude's heavy breathing.

She continued to fight, to scream and curse and struggle until her throat was raw and she realized that there was nothing she could do.

No one was coming, just like Kipp had said.

There was no one to save her and she wasn't even able to save herself.

The world had always been bad. There had always been men like Kipp, like the Governor, and like Jude. There had always been those who tried to take the power away from others in the sickest way imaginable and she had just fallen into it.

Her head fell back against the car behind her as Jude abruptly released his hold on her face, his eyes wide as he looked down at her and Amity was completely and utterly confused until he coughed, splattering blood across her face.

Jude went limp, his body falling half on top of her before she struggled and wiggled him completely off.

In a confused panic, Amity's eyes swept the room until they landed on the fight that was going on in the middle of the garage.

She took in the dark-skinned man amongst her captors, shoving a ballistic knife through the chest of Jimmy before turning in one fluid move to slash through another man's throat.

Amity was in a complete state of shock, her mind barely registering what was happening in front of her until a gunshot rang out and snapped her out of her state.

Kipp had ran up on the man, his own handgun drawn, but like he had already anticipated as much, the man pulled the military-style gun from where it hung across his broad shoulders and fired a shot straight through his forehead.

After that shot, the garage was engulfed in silence that was only broken up by the gasping breaths coming from Amity herself as she stared wide-eyed at her savior.

* * *

Daryl twisted the lid off of another one of the jars that he and Beth had dug out of the cabinets of the house. He gave the contents a cautious sniff before setting it down between them and taking a scoop of it out with a spoon.

"It's just orange marmalade, Daryl. It ain't poison." Beth said, teasing the uncertain hunter who raised a brow at her.

"Ya gonna try one of them pickled pig's feet then?" He retorted, snorting as the girl immediately made a face in response, shaking her head.

"Then I don't wanna hear it." He told her, before pointedly putting the spoonful of marmalade into his mouth.

The citrusy taste burst on his tongue, nicely coating his tastebuds though he felt his jaw tighten in response to slightly sharp-tasting jelly.

"See? It's good." Beth told him, smiling as she watched his face closely to see whether he had enjoyed it or not. It was clear he had.

The sound of scratching came from the front of the house and Daryl sighed at the sound.

The pair had come across a dog earlier, one that the hunter thought might have once belonged to the people whose house they were crashing in, and it was a skittish thing.

He had tried to pet it earlier, even tried to bribe it with food but it wasn't having it.

"I'm gonna give that mutt one more chance." Daryl told his companion, unscrewing the jar of pig's feet and pulling one out as a peace offering.

He went to the front door, quickly reaching out and pulling it open. Snarling reached his ears once he was in the middle of the action, but it was too late at that point.

Walkers slammed themselves against the door, the hunter struggling to keep them behind it as he yelled for Beth.

"Beth!" He shouted and the girl appeared in the hallway a moment later, his crossbow clutched in her hands until she tossed it to him.

Catching it with ease, Daryl threw his weight hard against the door as he looked at the obviously frightened blonde.

"Beth! Run!" He yelled at her. "Pry open a window and get your shit!"

"I'm not gonna leave you!" Beth protested but Daryl was having none of it.

"Go out! Go up the road, I'll meet you there. Go!" He ordered and waited as the girl did as he said.

He struggled hard to hold the door closed, buying her as much time as he could before he leapt away and turned fast, sending an bolt through the walker in the lead.

"This way!" He yelled at them, darting down the narrow hallway and throwing down the small hall table behind him, tripping up two walkers which he quickly stabbed through the head.

The narrow hallways served to helpfully funnel the walkers, but it also limited his range of motion.

"Come on, asshole!" He yelled, leaping to stab another one and then another after that. The pile of corpses in front of him was growing, but it made for a helpful barrier between himself and the still living dead.

He wasn't sure how many of the walkers he had taken out before there were no more coming and he was running further down the hall, his crossbow held in his hands.

Daryl busted out one of the windows in the back bedroom, climbing quickly out of it and heading towards the road where he had directed Beth to go.

He breached the tree line and his boots hit asphalt. Looking around, Daryl didn't see his companion anywhere and felt his heart drop until the sound of a motor reached his ears.

Running towards the noise, Daryl spotted a dark car squealing tires as it took off, a white cross on the back windshield being the only really identifiable feature about it.

"Beth!" Daryl yelled, taking off after the vehicle on foot without a second thought. "Beth! Beth!"

* * *

The man who had taken out her captors approached Amity with caution, obviously sensing her panic. He didn't falter in his steps though, not even when Amity brought her legs up to her chest in an attempt of putting something between them.

Kneeling down next to her, the man used the knife he had stabbed Jimmy with to saw through the wires binding her hands, letting them free with a snap.

The relief of having her hands free once more was immediate and as the woman pulled them around in front of her, she couldn't help but wince at the bloodied and raw state of her wrists. She had known they were bad, but she didn't recognize just how bad.

Her hands were numb due to the lack of blood getting to them and she looked at them hopelessly until a large hand was gently closing around one of hers.

Blue eyes darted to the face of the man next to her, her body tensed and ready to flee if she felt she had to, but the man just held her gaze as he rubbed his rough fingertips against her palms and the back of her hands, helping the circulation along.

Amity sat still as he did so, her eyes trained on his as if waiting for him to make a move that would let her know he was a danger to her just like the men he had killed, if not more so, but it never came.

The pair sat in silence until Amity's hands had feeling in them once more and she was able to fumble for the waist of her jeans, tugging them back over her hips while now avoiding the eyes of the man who had come to her rescue.

She didn't like to think about owing anyone anything, not in the old world or new, but she knew that she owed the man who was patiently sitting crouched next to her on the dirty garage floor.

Turning her gaze back on him, the woman narrowed her eyes before asking, "Who the hell are you?"

If he was taken aback by her question, the stone-faced man didn't show it.

"That's a weird thank you." He replied, his voice deep and smooth, but holding sarcasm so easily that Amity could tell it was a commonality in the man's vernacular.

"It wasn't one. It was a question." Amity told him, watching as his lips twitched before he nodded once, the action slow.

"I'm Bandit and I'm going to guess that your name's not Cherry."

* * *

Daryl had had them before, the nightmares where you ran and you ran but you never gained any distance.

He had woken up gasping from them, but those nightmares had nothing on the reality that he was facing.

Asphalt gritted against the soles of his boots as he kept pushing himself, running even after the sun had come up and the car that had taken Beth was long out of his sight.

He ran even with the nearly unbearable stitch in his side, ignoring the ache in his arms from swinging his crossbow as he went.

He ran and he ran, but he was getting nowhere.

He was getting nowhere, but he couldn't stop.

He couldn't lose Beth- not now. Not after everything.

They had lost everyone they loved, everyone they cared about, but even after all of that they had one another to lean on.

Daryl didn't think that he was much of a comfort to the young girl, being who he was, but she had been a comfort to him.

He couldn't let her go like he had everyone else.

He wouldn't make that mistake twice.

* * *

"How did you even come across us?" Amity asked the man at her side as they walked down the road that she had come up earlier that day, trying not to think about the fact that the sun was rising over the trees.

She had taken a leap of faith after everything that had happened and decided to trust the giant of a man who had burst into her personal hell and changed the scenery.

He struck an intimidating enough picture, standing at at least 6'3" and she would place him at being around his mid-30s. His complexion was warm sepia, with a dark scruff dusting along his cheeks and jaw bone though rather neatly for the apocalypse in which they resided. He had his hair cut close as well, but the dog tags hanging from his neck really clued her in on his past.

His appearence was of little concern to her in all honesty, she knew from experience that large men weren't always the most dangerous to deal with. Just look at her brother and Tyreese.

It was what their eyes told you that mattered, and Bandit's were guarded but warm, a shade of chestnut that had the woman thinking of the lake cabin she had frequented with her college friends during the warm summer months years ago.

"Those guys came into the area not too long ago. I could tell that they weren't the friendly sort so I've been keeping an eye on them. When they went hush I got suspicious and found them with you." Bandit explained in a very clipped way that had the woman thinking he was used to giving reports of his actions.

"So you just decided to burst in and play hero against six armed men?" She asked, knowing that her tone wasn't exactly friendly.

"It was the right thing to do." Bandit told her, shrugging broad shoulders as he did so.

"You big on doing the right thing then?" She questioned and he glanced over at her, his eyes moving from her own to the mess of ginger curls that surrounded her face before returning to her eyes.

"When I can."

With that, Bandit stepped off the road that they had been following and started into the woods.

"Where are we going?" Amity called after him, already jogging to catch up to the man.

She wasn't looking to be left alone again. In the beginning, it had been easy to adjust, but now Amity knew better.

Being alone wasn't easy, it was the hardest thing that anyone could deal with and she wasn't going to deal with it again.

"Somewhere safe." Bandit stated.

Their small hike only took about a half an hour, or so Amity estimated, until they were coming up on what looked to be an abandoned hunting cabin.

"Is this where you live?" Amity asked, vaguely wondering when he would get tired of her incessant questioning.

"For now." He told her and she nodded, she knew how that went.

Staying stagnant wasn't really an option anymore, the prison had proved that to her.

Bandit went straight for the front door of the building, jogging up the steps and opening the door before he paused and realized that she hadn't followed him up just as she called out to him.

"Wait a second, hold up!" She said, watching as the man turned and looked at her with a fair amount of confusion but expectancy.

"I have some questions for you first." She told him and she saw his lips twitch a bit in response just as they had earlier.

"You've had questions this entire time." He replied, and that was a fair enough point.

"Well, these are the important ones." Amity said and the man seemed to consider her for a long moment before he nodded his head.

"Shoot."

"How many walkers have you killed?" She asked him.

"Lost count at my second hundred." He replied immediately, his voice lending to the automatic trust she had in his answer.

Getting into the two hundreds was intense, but not impossible. Amity couldn't honestly say that she had even kept track of the amount of walkers she had taken down and she was sure her number was way lower than his.

"How many people?" She questioned next.

"Before or after the Outbreak?" He asked in return, catching the redhead off guard for a moment.

"What?"

"Before the Outbreak, I served overseas. I can give you a rough estimate, but..." He trailed off, leaving a tense silence between them before Amity simply nodded.

"After." She clarified for him.

"Seven." He told her.

She paused again, trying to get a read on the man after his answer. She knew what six of the seven killed by his hand were the cause of, but the seventh was a mystery.

"Why?"

"Six of them were trying to hurt someone else, the other was because he asked me to." Bandit explained, again replying to her questions with such outright certainty that she would have been suspicious had she not just spent the last few hours with the man.

He was a very upfront person, that much she could tell. He didn't hide or balk away from things, he met it head on. That was something she could respect.

The snarl of a walker from behind her had her turning, her hand pulling the knife free from her belt that she had taken back from her dead captors along with her other weapons and duffle bag.

She saw Bandit rushing back down the steps as she turned and held up a hand to stop him.

"I've got it." She told him, feeling the need to prove that she wasn't the damsel in distress that he may have thought she was.

She could save herself.

She couldn't stop believing that.

Lunging forward, Amity delivered a swift kick to the chest of the walker, sending it to the ground where she bent down to shove her knife into its forehead.

Ripping it out, Amity straightened up to see Bandit next to her now, the man watching her for a moment before gesturing to the corpse.

"Go ahead inside, I'll take care of it." He told her and she nodded in return, leaning down to wipe her blade clean on the walker's tattered pants then heading towards the door she had stopped him from going through earlier.

* * *

It wasn't enough.

He wasn't enough.

Asphalt bit into Daryl's knees as he dropped to the ground, his eyes casting back and forth between the roads that had split off in either direction, leaving no sign as to which way the car that had taken Beth went.

He couldn't get to her.

She was another person that he had lost, that he had let slip through his fingers.

Looking up at the sky, Daryl stared up at the clouds dotting the Georgia blue sky now that the sun was back up and took a deep shuddering breath.

There wasn't a person in his life that he had cared about that he hadn't done wrong by, that he hadn't kept safe.

Amity disappeared out from under him at the prison, Merle too, his momma had been burnt up in bed due to a cigarette and him not being home to watch out for her, Hershel had his throat cut because he stopped looking for the man who had done it- and now Beth.

He had told her to run, to go to the road, and now she was just _gone_.

Daryl's head dropped down, his eyes turning away from the bright sky to the harsh rock underneath him, and a flood of despair and disgust washed over him.

* * *

"So, you were in the military?" Amity asked Bandit, perching on the counter in the small kitchen area that the hunting cabinet held.

The man had given her some jerky to chew on, claiming that her previous diet of mixed nuts and cherries just wasn't sustainable. As it was, the redhead wasn't one to turn down any offer of food.

The man hummed a confirmation as he ran her knives over the whetstone that he apparently just had laying around. It was an action that had her chest clenching painfully, it reminded her so much of Daryl.

"Army? Navy? What?" She questioned, wanting more details about the man who decided it was morally sound behavior to jump into action even when the odds were against him.

"Marines." Bandit answered.

"Oh, did you like it?" She wondered, watching as he looked over to her with questioning behind his eyes.

Maybe it wasn't a question that he had gotten much.

"Dedicated my life to the Corps." He told her, turning his attention back to the task in his hands. "Got in as soon as I turned eighteen, did three tours overseas. I was a Major General when this all went down, had only been back on American soil for three weeks before the Outbreak."

Amity took in the information that he had offered her, looking at the man in a new light. It was no wonder that he had seemingly survived as well as he had, and it made sense as to how he took out her attackers.

"Major General, that's pretty high ranking, right?" She wondered, not really knowing the ins and outs of the military system, but her question seemed to amuse the man since his lips twitched a bit once more.

Amity was quickly learning that Bandit wasn't much of an emoter, maybe because of his time in the Marines, but that wasn't an issue to her. She had her fair share of time dealing with closed off people.

"It's up there." He answered.

Chewing the last bit of jerky she had, Amity fell silent for a while and just watched the man work.

Soon enough though, the silence pressed in on the woman and after only having herself to talk to, she couldn't just sit there and not chat.

"Dog or cat person?" She asked him, smiling as that question finally elicited a reaction from the Marine, and he snorted lightly.

She knew it was the hard-hitters that would get to him.

* * *

The sound of boots scraping across pavement wasn't even enough to bring Daryl out of the miserable state he had fallen into.

The hunter sat where he had landed in the crossroads, his eyes still trained on the black rock beneath him even as a pair of black boots entered his peripherals.

He had heard them all come up, he counted the five men surrounding him as well as the man whose boots he could see. He just couldn't bring himself to really care about their presence nor the potential threat they held for him.

"Well, lookit here." The man drawled out, but it was only once he started towards him that Daryl came out of his stupor. He lashed out as the man reached for his crossbow, slamming his fist into his face to send him sprawling as Daryl jumped to his feet.

The other five men kept their weapons trained on him, ready to shoot the man, but the one he had just punched called out from where he laid.

"Damn it, hold up!" He told the others.

"I'm claiming the vest. I like them wings." A man announced from behind him, but Daryl kept his attention and his bolt on the man still on the ground in front of him.

"Hold up." The man said once more, raising a finger to his bleeding nose before pulling it back to look at it.

The sight of blood on his hand was apparently funny to the older man who started laughing like Daryl had told him a joke rather than walloped him in the face. As he laughed, the man pushed himself to his feet, but Daryl's aim didn't waiver.

"A bowman." The man noted, stepping closer to Daryl without fear. "I respect that. See, a man with a rifle, he could have been some kind of photographer or soccer coach back in the day. But a bowman's a bowman through and through."

He eyed the crossbow a moment before looking back to Daryl.

"What you got there? A hundred-fifty pound draw weight? I'll be donkey-licked if that don't fire at least 300 feet per second." He rambled off. "I've been looking for a weapon like that. Of course, I'd want one with a bit more ammo and minus the oblongata stains."

"Get yourself in some trouble, partner?" The same man who wanted Daryl's vest asked.

"You pull that trigger, these boys are gonna drop you several times over." The man Daryl punched said, apparently wanting to keep his attention. "That what you want? Come on, fella, suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt other people?"

He paused for a moment, smiling in a way that had Daryl feeling more uneasy about the guy every second.

"Name's Joe."

Lowering his weapon, Daryl learned something about himself in that moment that he wasn't sure he liked- he didn't want to be alone anymore.

He didn't think that he could be.

He had lost the prison and everyone in it, and now he had lost Beth.

He didn't want to be alone.

"Daryl."

* * *

"Do you have a group?" Amity asked Bandit, now sitting on a small recliner in the tiny living room of the cabin while he sat stretched out on the couch.

The woman had seen no signs of anyone else being around the cabin but the one man, but that didn't mean anything. It could be where he went when he scouted or hunted, Amity was sure that Daryl had one or two places around the prison that he knew he could crash in if needed.

The only thing that had her doubting him being a part of a group was how lived in the place looked.

"No, it's just me." He told her, watching her as closely as she was watching him.

It was obvious that the pair, though seeming to trust one another, were both trying to get at the roots of the other.

"Since the start?" She wondered and that was a question that finally had the man hesitating for a moment.

"No. Just for a while now." He said and Amity nodded her head, deciding not to push that subject. He was answering truthfully from what she could tell and that was what mattered.

"I had a group." Amity told him, watching as his body leaned forward just a bit, obviously focusing on her words now.

"A big one. I was with them until about four days ago." She explained.

"What happened?" Bandit asked just when Amity thought that he wasn't going to question what she had said.

"We had taken a prison, the West Georgia Correctional Facility. Myself and a small group that I had joined a couple of months after the... uh, Outbreak, is what you called it." She explained, looking over to the man whose eyes never wavered from her as she spoke.

"Cleared it out, had some trouble along the way but we eventually made it a home. We had crops, livestock, a council..." She trailed off for a moment, taking a steadying breath.

This was the first time she had talked about the prison since it fell. She had been alone before she was jumped and there was no way she was going to spill her life story to those men.

"We were bringing in people. Everything to have a real society, you know?" She said and Bandit nodded even though her question was mostly rhetorical. It was clear that he was listening to her, and that was something she appreciated more than she could ever express.

"Then people started getting sick, real sick real fast. They were dying left and right so we went on a run for meds from a nearby veterinary college. We got them and got back in time to save those that we could, but we took a real hit to our population. We were weak... and then the past came knocking." Closing her eyes for a moment, Amity remembered the sight of the Governor standing on top of the tank, of Rick's back as he stood in front of the man who had assaulted her and Maggie.

"He called himself the Governor. We had a run in with him when we first got to the prison... he was a messed up guy. The world had gotten to him, left his brain warped in a way that you just can't get back from." She explained, looking at her hands instead of Bandit now once she had opened her eyes again.

"He showed up with a fucking _tank_. Blew our walls apart, rolled over our fences like nothing, and started to mow down our people. I tried to take the tank, climbed it but got knocked out. Woke up to nothing but fire and walkers." She finished, now cautiously returning her gaze to Bandit who was looking at her with something that she couldn't quite place.

"You tried to take out a tank?" Bandit asked her after a beat of silence had passed.

"I climbed it." Amity admitted, a smile twisting at her lips as she realized how truly ridiculous that did sound.

She let the man have his amusement over that part of her story, shaking her head a bit before pausing and finding his warm eyes once more.

"I've been looking for them."

"For who?" He asked, brows knitting together in confusion.

"My family, the people that were with me at the prison. I need to find them." Amity told him.

"You just said the place got blown away by a _tank_ , what makes you think any of them are even still kicking?" Bandit questioned her, obviously not sharing in her optimism.

"If you knew them, you would understand. They're out there, Bandit and it's not that I don't appreciate what you've done for me, because I do, but I have to find them." She told the man, already rising from her seat as if she was going to set out then and there.

"They're your family." Bandit said, his tone shifting before he let out a sigh.

"I think I know where you could find them." He told her, her eyebrows shooting towards her hairline in response.

Amity followed the Marine out of the cabin and back into the trees, now on the other side of the clearing in which it sat. It was only a few hundred yards until there were train tracks cutting through the forest and Bandit began to follow them. A few more minutes of walking and sign stood out to the side of the tracks like a sore thumb.

"Terminus. Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive... survive." Amity read aloud, the words ringing familiar to her for some reason.

"I thought it was a scam, plain and simple. If it's too good to be true-" Bandit began.

"Then it probably is." Amity finished for him, but her eyes still ghosted over the sign and the map underneath it.

Reading the message again and again, Amity nodded her head.

If her family was out there, that's where they would head. She knew that for certain.

They wouldn't be doing it because they bought into the idea of sanctuary, but because they knew that is where they would all go looking for each other.

"Terminus... I guess I'm following the tracks." Amity said, more to herself than anything else.

"We'll get our stuff and then we'll head out. We can make some distance before it gets dark." Bandit said from beside of her, Amity's blue eyes snapping to him immediately.

"What?"

"If you're going then I'm going. You want to find your family, I'm going to help you." He told her, saying it so simply as if it made total sense.

"But- _why_?" She asked, not understanding why he would leave his cabin to go with her on her search for people he didn't even know.

"What else is there to do?" He replied, a smirk pulling up one side of his mouth before he was turning away from her and heading back in the direction of his cabin, leaving Amity jogging to catch up with him once again.

* * *

 **Hey, lovelies!**

 **I hope you're enjoying Amity's own little adventure so far! Let me know your thoughts on Bandit! He is personally one of my favorite OCs and I hope that you guys will enjoy the addition that he makes to this story!**

 **But there you have it- Amity's on track for Terminus now. She's geared up and determined to find her people, so who knows what will go down once she gets there!**

 **Don't forget to leave a review letting me know your thoughts and opinions thus far and I'll be getting a new chapter up for y'all soon!**

 **xx**


	36. Chapter 36

"How far do you figure we are now?" Amity asked her traveling companion as they walked along the train tracks, the woman taking care to step on the ties rather than risk twisting her ankle up.

"You looked at the map too, Bambi." Bandit replied, tossing an apple that he had taken with him from the cabin up and down in his hand. Amity had been counting on him eating it within their first few hours walking, but it had survived through the night and now she was thinking that he just brought it along so that he could toss it like he was.

"Maps mean nothing to me. Time is an illusion and distance is relative." Amity rambled off before abruptly pressing her lips together, catching the look that Bandit was giving her after her small outburst.

It was one of the times that Daryl would have told her she had gotten lost inside that head of hers and ended up somewhere that he couldn't follow.

"If time is an illusion then I guess you don't need to know how far out we are." Bandit told her, resuming his tossing of his apple while Amity tossed a withering look his way.

They walked along in silence for a while until Bandit spoke up again.

"Less than a day." He said and a smile broke out across the redhead's lips.

She redjusted her pack on her shoulder and picked up the pace a bit, not caring about Bandit's grumbling as he was forced to do the same or get left behind.

"You that eager?" He asked and she looked at him with disdain.

"Of course I am! My family might be there." She reminded him.

"Any of 'em actually blood?" He asked and she nodded, her smile fading a bit at the thought of getting there and not finding her brother. She would be thankful for anyone from the prison at that point, but Michael was the only blood family she had left.

The thought of losing him tore her apart.

"Just one, my older brother." She answered, voice softer and Bandit picked up on that.

"Lucky to have him with you after everything." Bandit told her and she nodded immediately, she didn't take their luck for granted even a little bit.

"You're telling me. Started this whole thing off without him. He was in North Carolina and I was here in Georgia. I just accepted him as being dead with the rest of the world, but he didn't do the same about me. Rode up to where I was staying with my group like he had been only ten minutes away, not an entire state." Amity said, remembering the moment with a smile. "You have any siblings?"

Bandit fell quiet at her question, leaving them to walk in silence for a while longer but Amity didn't mind. She knew that questions about family could be the hardest to answer. She wouldn't push the man. He could tell her if he wanted to.

"I had two brothers." He said finally, nearly an hour passing since she had asked her question. "I was the oldest of us three."

Amity nodded her head, glancing over at the man briefly before focusing on where she was walking once more.

"I don't know what happened to Alex. He was in Miami with my mother, but with the city... and my other brother, Xavier, he served with me. We were both at the Marine Corps detachment in Fort Benning when shit went down. He was lost when the base was, after that I got the hell out of there." He explained.

"I'm sorry about your brothers." Amity told him, her voice gentle as she reached out to lay a hand against the man's arm, the action apparently surprising him.

He looked over at her with confusion that turned into a bit of sadness, both of them stopping without really planning to.

"I'm not sorry about yours." Bandit told her and it was Amity's turn to be confused.

"I'm not going to be sorry about a guy that we're gonna find." He clarified, pulling a smile from the woman and she shoved his arm a bit before turning back to the tracks ahead of them.

They were going to find them. All of them.

* * *

Daryl crouched low in the undergrowth of the forest, his sharp eyes trained on the rabbit that was only a stone's throw away from him.

He had the creature in his sight, lining up the shot before inhaling, and squeezing the trigger, but his bolt wasn't the only thing that struck it.

The thwang of a bowstring sounded from behind him and Daryl stood, whipping around to see that Len, another archer in the camp, had shot his kill as well.

"What the hell are you doing?" Daryl asked him roughly.

"Catching me some breakfast." Len replied smugly.

"That's mine." Daryl growled in return.

"My arrow's the one that hit first. Cottontail belongs to me." Len reasoned but Daryl was having none of it.

He moved over to the rabbit, pulling the arrow and bolt from it without really paying the other man much mind.

"Been out here since before the sun came up." He told him.

"You see, the rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here. Now, that rabbit you're holding is claimed, boy." Len said as Daryl stood to face him, tossing the other man's arrow into the woods without care.

"Claimed whether you like it or not. So I was you, I'd hand it over. _Now_ , before you get to wishing you ain't never even got out of bed this morning." Len kept talking as Daryl stalked over to him, the rabbit dangling by its back legs from his hand.

"It ain't yours." He growled at the dickhead he was now squaring up to.

"You know, I'll bet this bitch got you all messed up, hmm?" Len said, trying to pull a reaction from him. He was dancing around the truth, though not in the way he thought he was. "Am I right?"

Daryl simply pushed pass him, not bothering to entertain his attempts to get at him.

"Got you walking around here like a dead man who just lost himself a piece of tail." Len kept pushing, bringing Daryl's steps to a slow halt. Again, the man wasn't right in the way he thought, but he was close enough to home between Daryl losing Amity before losing Beth that he was eating at the hunter's soft spots. "Must have been a good'un."

"Tell me something. Was it one of the little'uns?" Len asked. "'Cause they don't last too long out here."

His question made Daryl's skin crawl and it pushed the boundary on his temper. He flicked open his knife's sheath, more than prepared to embed the thing into the asshole's skull who thought he could take his kill. Who thought that he knew him.

He drew his knife as Len laughed, the only thing stopping Daryl from attacking him being the arrival of Joe.

"Easy, fellas, easy." Joe tried to soothe. "Let's just put our weapons down. See if we can't figure out what's really the problem here, huh?"

"Did you claim it?" Joe asked Len, referring to the rabbit Daryl held.

"Hell, yeah." Len stated.

"Well, there you go. That critter belongs to Len." Joe told Daryl who simply looked at the two me.

"So let's have it." Len insisted but the archer didn't move.

"Looks like you may be wanting an explanation." Joe cut in, still picking up on the tension from the man.

"See, going at it alone, that ain't an option nowadays. Still, it is survival of the fittest. That's a paradox right there. So I laid out some rules of the road to keep things from going Darwin every couple hours. Keep our merry band together and stress-free." He began to explain. "All you got to do is claim. That's how you mark your territory, your prey, your bed at night. One word, claimed."

"I ain't claiming nothin'." Daryl told him, the rules sounding stupid as hell to the man.

You earned what you earned, people shouting a word didn't grant them shit.

"We're gonna teach him, right?" Len cut in, sounding eager. "The rules say we got to teach him."

"It wouldn't be fair to punish you for violating a rule you never even knew existed." Joe said, causing Len to groan unhappily while Daryl shot him a hard glare.

"There ain't no rules no more." He said simply, watching Len as the man moved closer to him.

"Oh, there are. You know that. That's why I didn't kill you for the crossbow." Joe countered, watching the staring match between the two men for a moment. He reached out for the rabbit Daryl held and the hunter pulled away out of instinct.

"Easy there, partner." Joe told him, tugging at the rabbit but Daryl didn't let go. The older man improvised, pulling the rabbit up against a tree by its ears and swung his small axe into the soft flesh of its belly, splitting it in half.

"Claimed. That's all you got to say." Joe told Daryl, tossing the front of the rabbit to Len while letting Daryl keep the part he held.

"Hey, ass end is still an end." The leader reasoned, shrugging.

* * *

"You know, you know all about what I did before the Outbreak and I don't know a damn thing about what you did." Bandit stated, leaving Amity to recognize that he had a point.

She had been doing a fair majority of the questioning, but it wasn't her fault Bandit was a fairly quiet man unless you kept talking and the easiest way to do that was to ask questions.

"Ask away." Amity told him.

"What did you do before this? Career-wise?" He questioned, throwing a softball to start off with.

"I was a clinical neuropsychologist, worked in my own clinic." Amity told him.

"A psychologist? One of the doctors that try to get in everyone's head when they get back from overseas, huh?" He asked but she shook her head.

"I only dealt with servicemen or veterans if they came to me on their own volition. I was a private clinic so that made my clients as selective as I wanted, though I took almost anyone I could." She explained.

"You like it?" He asked, throwing out the question she had to him earlier.

"Loved it. It was my entire life." Amity answered truthfully.

"No husband or whatever else?" Bandit questioned and she shook her head.

"Nope, when I say it was my entire life, I mean it." She told him and he let out a small noise of agreement.

"Know what that's like." He said.

"Are you from-" Bandit began to ask his next question but was cut off by a scream up ahead that immediately had both of them kicking it into gear.

Amity sprinted alongside her companion, her heart pounding as another scream ripped through the air and they rounded a bend in time to catch sight of a woman struggling with a small horde of walkers.

"Shit." Amity cursed, her hand automatically reaching back for her bow that wasn't there. She cursed her instincts for wasting precious time as she pulled a knife from her belt, running straight for the woman rather than dealing with the walkers between them like Bandit was.

The Marine slammed the tactical axe he pulled from his belt home into the temple of walker after walker, trying to clear the horde to save the woman they had come across.

He watched in horror as Amity threw herself into the walkers, expecting to hear the woman's screams of pain moments later but none came. The walkers weren't paying the redhead any mind.

Pushing away the craziness that he had just witnessed, Bandit turned his attention back to the walkers coming for him.

Amity ducked her way through the horde, taking care not to bump into any of the undead and draw their attention as she tried to reach the screaming woman.

The walkers were too thick right at her so Amity had to break her cover, yelling to the woman that she was coming to help while jabbing her knife into skull after skull.

The horde thinned enough so that Amity could see the blonde woman, her pupils blown wide with fear, and her eyes met Amity's just before the redhead had to fend off another walker and a different one dug its teeth into the other woman's cheek.

"No!" Amity yelled, stabbing another walker as she tried to get to her even though it was too late.

The walkers closest to the woman were distracted by their drive to tear into her flesh, leaving them open and easy to kill for both Bandit and Amity.

Once all of the corpses laid unmoving, Amity wiped her blade off on a pants leg of one of them and turned to look at Bandit who had his lips pressed together.

She was expecting to see sadness behind his eyes, not the stern suspicion that was directed to her now.

"What the hell was that?" He asked sharply.

"What the hell was what?" She shot back.

"The biters, they didn't even look at you until you started stabbing them!" Bandit told her, his voice raising as he saw indecision flit across her expression as if she was considering lying to him.

Which she was.

Amity knew that her bite was a secret that she had to hold close to her, knowing that some people wouldn't react in the best ways.

People could turn her into a lab rat, they could say that she was bound to turn and try to kill her, or many other things... but she had decided to trust Bandit, so she would.

"I need you to bare with me for a moment, alright?" Amity told him, receiving narrowed eyes in return and sighing.

"Listen, it's going to sound crazy, okay?" She began again, trying to make him understand but she knew that she would just have to come out and say it.

"I've been bit." She told him and watched the change in his expression.

"What?" He growled, taking a step back with his axe raising slightly before he seemed to realize what he was doing and forced it back down.

"I was bit months ago." She clarified, giving him a moment to process what she was saying.

"How is that..." Bandit asked, trailing off as he looked at her like she was a complex calculus equation and he was a C student in algebra.

"Possible? It shouldn't be." Amity told him honestly, her hands still held out slightly in front of her as if she was waiting for him to get over his confusion and decide to put her down. "I was bit and my brother couldn't kill me, not until I was dead on my own, but that never happened. I got really sick, but I never turned."

"That's not... if you get bit, you turn. That's it." Bandit said, trying to wrap his head around her story.

Seeing that he wasn't believing her, Amity reached for the neckline of her tank top where the strap laid alongside her sports bra's strap, hiding the bite from view and tugged it to the side so that her scar was visible.

She watched Bandit's eyes widen slightly, the large man stepping forward to run the tip of his index finger along the raised flesh.

"You were bit." He said and Amity nodded.

"But you didn't turn." He added and she nodded again.

"You're a damn miracle." Bandit told her, looking up from the bite now to meet her eyes, his hand dropping from her skin a moment later.

"I've been told as much." Amity replied with a cheeky smile, not being able to help but laugh as Bandit's awe immediately faded and the Marine rolled his eyes at her.

"But, now that that's over. Let's cover her and keep moving, okay? I'll answer whatever questions you've got, but I still need to get to my family." She suggested and Bandit didn't hesitate before nodding and heading towards the body of the woman they had tried to save.

"Need to take a look at your bandages before we keep moving as well." Bandit told her over his shoulder, referring to the bandages he had wrapped her injured wrists in once they had settled down in his cabin.

She had done a number on them during her struggle, but they had simply become a dull and constant ache in the back of her mind as her focus was now on getting to Terminus.

* * *

Keeping the railroad tracks under their feet was something proving to be grounding for Daryl as he moved along with Joe and the rest of the group.

The men he was with weren't his type of people, but they were the type of people that he knew.

Rough necks and crooks that were let loose now that the law had gone to hell along with the rest of the world.

Daryl told himself that he was just biding his time. That he would leave as soon as he got his head straight again. That he didn't need a group.

He had to keep telling himself that lest he got comfortable.

"So what's the plan, Daryl?" Joe asked, pulling the hunter's attention from the ties under his boots to the man at his side.

"How so?" Daryl asked.

"You're with us now, but you ain't soon?" Joe clarified.

"Yep." Daryl answered simply, holding true to the mantra on repeat in his head.

"So what's the plan?" Joe asked him, catching Daryl a bit off guard. He shook his head slightly, nearly shrugging as he searched for the right words.

"Just looking for the right place is all." He said.

"Oh, we ain't good enough for you, huh?" Joe questioned and Daryl resisted the urge to scoff.

"Some of you ain't exactly friendly." He pointed out.

"You ain't so friendly yourself. You know you need a group out here." Joe told him.

"Maybe I don't." Daryl shot back.

"No, you do." Joe said with absolute confidence. "You should be with us."

The snarling of a walker caught the two men's attention, but the guys in the front of their group were already peeling off their gear in order to take care of it.

"People don't got to be friendly. We don't have to be nice." Joe continued as the walker stumbled towards the men. "We don't have to be brothers in arms."

The walker approached one of the men who mocked its snarl before pushing it back with the length of his gun, sending it into the arms of another one of the men who held it still as a third stabbed his knife through the top of its skull.

"We just got to follow the rules. You claim. If you steal, you keel. I know that sounds a little funny, but nobody laughs when something goes missing. And you don't lie. 'Cause that's a slippery slope indeed." Joe told him as they continued to walk, laying out the rules of the small group.

"What happens if you break 'em?" Daryl asked.

"Oh, you catch a beatin'." Joe replied without much care. "The severity of which depends upon the offense and the general attitude of the day. But that don't happen much 'cause when men like us follow rules and cooperate a little bit, well, the world becomes ours."

Looking off to the side of the tracks, Joe nodded his head once before whistling to gather the attention of the men and pointed at a big rusted warehouse they were about to pass.

"Right there. It's our abode for the evening." He called out, his word apparently being all the men needed as they turned to head for the building without pause.

"Hey." Daryl said, catching Joe's attention as the older man started to walk away. "There ain't no us."

"You leavin' right now?" Joe asked him in return, staring down Daryl as the man avoided answering.

"No?" He questioned before nodding. "Then it sure seems like there's an us."

Joe began walking once more, leaving the hunter to debate with himself over his next move.

He could leave. He could leave right then and there, but for some reason he was struggling with it.

"You a cat person, Daryl?" Joe asked from up ahead of him, cutting into the man's internal battle. "I am. Loved 'em since I was three years old. Vicious creatures."

Taking a drag from his cigarette, the older man seemed to consider the archer for a moment before continuing his story.

"Anyway, I'll tell you, and this is true, ain't nothing sadder than an outdoor cat that thinks he's an indoor cat."

* * *

"So you let yourself play lab rat for that long?" Bandit asked, still continuing to toss his damn apple up in the air with one hand.

"It was for the good of everyone." Amity replied with a shrug.

Her time getting blood drawn constantly, leaving her arms tender and bruised wasn't the most fun, but she knew they couldn't just leave the fact she had been bitten and survived alone. They needed to attempt to figure out the whys and hows of the matter.

"I would have knocked a doctor out." Bandit said, shaking his head and pulling a laugh from Amity.

"I think a doctor would have been way less inclined to poke and prod you than me." She pointed out before shrugging once more. "Besides, Caleb was my friend. If I would have asked him to stop then he would have."

"Some friend. The guy convinced you to run into no man's land alone." Bandit reminded her, Amity having told him the story of how she had gotten bitten in the first place a little while earlier.

"I wasn't alone and he wanted to go with me." Amity defended but the Marine just shook his head, apparently not caring for the details of the situation.

"Still, the man was a damn idiot for even suggesting it." Bandit reasoned, before a tell-tale crunch let Amity know that he had finally taken a bite of the apple he had brought.

"Holy shit, finally. I was beginning to think that you were more intent on keeping that apple alive than me." Amity said, not being able to resist teasing the man a bit, but upon turning to look at him, she noted his eyes were trained on something in the distance.

Her gaze following his, Amity noted another one of the large Terminus signs, but that wasn't what she cared about.

What was interesting to her was the note scrawled in blood across the map.

"Glenn-" Amity began to read aloud, her voice thick with the tears that had automatically welled in her eyes at the sight of her friend's name. "Go to Terminus. Maggie, Sasha, Bob, Merle."

The redhead's hands rose to her mouth, clasping over her lips for a moment as she fought against the relief that welled in her.

"They some of yours?" Bandit asked softly, already figuring as much due to the woman's reaction but he couldn't resist asking.

Amity frantically nodded her head, moving up to run a finger over the blood on the sign now that they were up on it.

It was long dried, but that didn't bother her one bit.

They were going the right way.

"They're alive." Amity breathed out, touching Maggie's name then Merle's with a small smile tugging at her lips before it twisted into a small frown.

They were alive, but apparently separated.

Beth wasn't with Maggie, Glenn wasn't with Maggie, Merle wasn't with Daryl.

Where was Daryl? Where was Michael? Michonne, Glenn, Beth, Rick, Carl?

She didn't know, but she held onto hope that they were following along the tracks and signs just like she was.

"We have to keep going!" Amity announced suddenly, turning abruptly to start running off down the tracks but Bandit caught her arm, wrapping a large hand around her bicep with ease and stopping her from going anywhere.

"Can you breathe for a second?" He asked her and immediately she shook her head, making him snort in response.

"Look, Doe Eyes, this map is the key to getting you to your friends faster." He told her and that made the woman hesitate.

"We just follow the tracks." She reasoned and he shook his head.

"Look, there's a tunnel here. Bound to be too dark to go through it without risking our asses. Best for us to take this side track here-" He explained, trailing a finger along one of the lines on the map. "-and keep pushing on to Terminus. That track seems to be shorter anyhow."

Amity studied the map for a moment, not being the best at map reading but she was a hell of a pretender. She didn't want Bandit to think that she was just following him blind, no matter how much she had grown to trust the man.

"You have a point." She conceded finally, choosing to ignore the smug smirk that lighted across his lips as she readjusted her bag on her shoulder and stepped back onto the tracks.

She was so close now that she was practically hearing her family's voices.

* * *

The building that they entered turned out to be an old car garage, maybe used for working on the old vehicles that were all around them.

"They ain't here." One of the men announced. "Ain't nobody been here for a while, but they got all the gas."

Daryl wandered inside with the rest of the group, looking around the space as the man spoke before he pulled a tarp off of one of the old vehicles to get a better look.

"That don't matter. We're gettin' closer, I can feel it." Joe replied.

"Claimed." One of the men said as he sidled up beside of Daryl, kicking the bag that the hunter kept his things in off to the side and Daryl had to bite down hard on his tongue.

"Claimed." A voice rang out from across the garage.

Everywhere the hunter turned, someone was claiming something.

"Claimed." Another man told him after he went over to a different car, but Daryl simply turned away from his taunting eyes.

"Claimed." Len nearly sang at him as he tried for the truck, but Daryl wasn't rising to the bait.

No, fuck the claiming game.

He wasn't a part of their group. He was just killing time.

Ignoring the men watching him, Daryl took to the floor in the center of the room, tucking his bag underneath his head as he laid on his back looking at the ceiling.

He wasn't a damn Claimer. He didn't need them.

It was hours and a couple of pisses later, that Daryl still found himself returning to his place on the ground with his bag tucked under his head.

"Christ." He heard spat out nearby and sat up just in time to see Len stalking towards him.

"Give it here." The other archer demanded.

"You step back." Daryl warned him.

"My half was in the bag. Now it's gone." Len called out loudly, obviously wanting everyone involved as Daryl pushed himself to his feet. "Now ain't nobody around here interested in no half a damn cottontail except you. Ain't that right?"

"You're the only one still thinking about that crap." Daryl snarled in return.

"Empty your bag." Len demanded, going for his bag but Daryl snatched it up first.

"I said step back!" Daryl snapped at him as Joe wandered over and took the bag out of Daryl's hands.

"Did you take his rabbit, Daryl?" The leader asked. "Just tell me the truth."

"I didn't take nothin'." Daryl told him.

"What do we got here?" Joe wondered, turning the bag and dumping out the contents. "Come on."

Daryl's things tumbled to the ground, followed by the front end of a rabbit.

The hunter looked at the dead creature, his temper rearing its ugly head inside of him at the sight since he was damn well aware that he didn't take it.

"Well, look at that." Joe said, catching sight of it.

"You put that there, didn't you?" Daryl asked Len. "When I went out to take a piss."

"You lied." Len replied smugly, but Daryl shoved the man back.

"Didn't you?" He snarled.

"You lied. You stole." Len growled at him, pushing him back in return. "We gonna teach this fool or what, Joe?"

"Whoa, whoa. Now, Daryl says he didn't take your half of the rabbit. So we got a little conundrum here. Either he's lying, which is an actionable offense-" Joe began before laughing lightly, confusing the other men in the room. "-or you didn't plant it on him like some pussy, punk-ass, cheatin', coward cop, did ya? 'Cause while that wouldn't be specifically breaking the rules, it'd be disappointing."

"It would." Len agreed.

"Mm-hmm." Joe hummed.

"I didn't." Len said sharply, leaning into the leader's face.

"Good." Joe nodded, turning to look towards Daryl before suddenly swinging around and punching Len in the face, sending the other man to the ground.

"Well teach him a lesson, gents. He's a lying sack of shit. I'm sick of it. Teach him all the way." Joe told the rest of the group, confusing Daryl to no end as the other men converged on Len, not hesitating to begin kicking the shit out of the man.

"I saw him do it." Joe told Daryl.

"Why didn't you try to stop him?" The hunter asked in return, tired and pissed off by the games the man seemed to like to play.

"He wanted to play that out. I let him." Joe said with a shrug. "You told the truth. He lied. You understand the rules. He doesn't."

Daryl looked over to where Len was laying on the ground, taking the beating that Joe had deemed he earned before he caught the rabbit head tossed his way.

"Looks like you get the head too."

* * *

The pace that Amity was pushing along at was one that wouldn't have been sustainable had Bandit not had plenty of food and water stored away for them at his cabin.

It also wouldn't have worked if they were farther out from their destination than they were, but since they weren't, Bandit took to jogging along behind the springy redhead as she rotated between all but sprinting and jogging along the railway.

"You know, they're going to be just as much there if we walk or if we run." Bandit called out to her, keeping a steady pace but not seeing the point in pushing themselves, but then again, it wasn't his family they were after.

In all honesty, the man was nervous about Terminus.

He was nervous about what they would find there, and though he really strained to push the thought out of his head, he was nervous about being around people again.

Amity had been different. He couldn't imagine anyone not wanting the tiny fiery woman at their side once they had her along, but a group was something else all together.

If they didn't like him, he was out.

If her people didn't take to him... we was sure that Amity would tell him to hit the road as well.

Before he took down the men in the garage, that wouldn't have been a problem to him, but now... it wasn't something he liked to dwell on too much.

"Exactly why we might as well jog!" Amity called over her shoulder, sending the man a bright grin that had him shaking his head but not slowing his pace.

In fact, the sight of a large building up ahead that was off to the side of the tracks had him picking up his pace until he reached Amity, pulling the redhead to a stop before gesturing for them to get off the tracks.

He had caught a glimpse of the giant T and E scrawled across the broadside of the place and it left no doubts in his mind that they were just about to stumble into the place they had been hunting for.

"Whoa, what?" Amity asked, allowing the man to tug her into the tree line but holding her ground once they were there.

"Terminus- it's right there." Bandit told her, watching as excitement blossomed behind her eyes.

"Then what are we doing? We've got to-" She began, but the Marine cut her off.

"We need to be smart about this, Bambi. We got a couple of hours of sunlight left, not much more. We go in with weapons up, side-by-side and you don't stray. Not until we are face-to-face with your people, got it?" Bandit listed off, taking charge in a way that was so natural that Amity found herself reminded of Rick.

She considered his plan for a moment before nodding her head, agreeing to his reasonable demands.

"It's going to be okay, Bandit. If my people are there then it's going to be alright." She said, holding onto her optimism about the situation on the surface, but the woman wasn't stupid.

She knew that the place could easily be a trap set up by some twisted fucks looking to rob people.

She wasn't going to go in stupid, but she had to go in with some hope.

"Let's get going and prove that." Bandit told her with a nod back towards the tracks, following closely behind her as she moved to get back on path.

* * *

 **Another chapter down!**

 **I just wanted to thank blouwoods for their reviews, but also wanted to take a moment to address something that one of their reviews brought up to the forefront of my mind.**

 **I've been considering doing a zombie-less AU of Daryl and Amity's story if that would be something y'all are interested in? They both come from very different backgrounds and I have a ton of ideas for how that would play out if they would have met without an apocalypse or perhaps just _before_ the apocalypse?**

 **Let me know what y'all think! ( About the chapter and the idea of an AU story ;P )**


	37. Chapter 37

Following the railway, Amity spotted Terminus like Bandit had within moments of stepping onto the railroad ties once more.

Her eyes ghosted over the large letters painted across the building and she carefully stepped off the tracks and down onto a concrete expanse that stretched out from the huge building.

Approaching the self-proclaimed sanctuary, Amity spotted the gate along the chainlink fence and went to unhook the chain that was holding it together while Bandit watched her back.

The Marine was on edge, Amity could feel the tension he held as if it was a palpable thing.

Dark eyes roved over the space around them, not appreciating the quiet that the land seemed to hold, especially not with the amount of people he had been expecting a 'sanctuary for all' to hold.

The pair shut the gate behind them, Amity hooking the chain back around it even with the look that Bandit gave her.

"Being rude and leaving the door open isn't any way to start a meeting." She told him, ignoring the way he rolled his eyes and gripped his military rifle in his hands.

The pair followed the curve of the blatant path in the courtyard, Amity taking in the gardens while Bandit scanned the windows and roofs of the buildings around them.

They came across another fence and Amity felt as if they were being funneled along, and granted, the thought made sense.

They wouldn't want newcomers wandering about lost until someone happened upon them.

The second gate held a sign that instructed them to lower their weapons, that they had made it to the place they had been searching for.

Amity looked over to Bandit who shook his head at her, pushing the fence to make it swing back with the barrel of his gun and moving in ahead of her.

The woman had noticed how he stayed a half a step in front of her, his body slightly in front of hers as he continuously scanned the space with his eyes and weapon.

She could see his military training clear as day in the motions even if she hadn't already been told of his past.

It seemed there were some things that you never let go of, and she figured that in this new world, it was best that he didn't.

Coming around the corner, Amity noted Bandit hesitating a step before she spotted the large grill and the woman standing behind it.

She was leaned over the smoking grates, a look of concentration on her face before she apparently heard them or caught a glimpse of their movement and looked up.

At first, she seemed a bit surprised and her eyes widened a second before her smile did.

It was a smile that put Amity on edge, the woman unconsciously taking a step closer to Bandit, pressing up next to him as she made herself greet the woman head on and side-by-side with the man like he had originally said they would.

The woman crossed out from behind the grill, approaching them without hesitation and Amity noted the handgun on her hip before anything else.

"Hi, I'm Mary." She greeted. "Looks like you've been on the road a while."

Silence fell between them apart from the crackling of the fire within the grill and that was when Amity realized she was waiting for a response and Bandit and herself were staring like a couple of idiots.

"We have been." Amity confirmed, knowing that Bandit wasn't going to answer her.

"Let's get you settled and we'll make you a plate." Mary suggested. "Welcome to Terminus."

Again, a heavy silence fell between the trio and Amity found herself wracking her brain for what their next move was supposed to be. The woman was looking at her expectantly before finally nodding once.

"Now, I've got a few questions for you both, I'm sure you understand." She began, her tone friendly and placating in the way that Rick's often was when he was trying to talk Amity down out of one of her outbursts.

She hated that tone.

"But first I'm going to need to see all of your weapons." Mary finished.

Bandit tensed up even more so beside of Amity, something that she wouldn't have thought possible with how rigid the man already was.

Amity, however, didn't move.

She knew that it was a reasonable request. After all, they were the strangers in the situation.

"Just lay 'em down in front of you." Mary directed.

"My family is supposed to be here." Amity blurted out suddenly, finding herself with a bad case of word vomit and she ignored the sharp look that Bandit gave her for showing their hand.

She watched Mary closely, seeing the flash of confusion behind her eyes that quickly morphed into understanding and then her soft smile was back, her expression carefully in place.

It made Amity's stomach churn uncomfortably.

"You two are the first new people that we've gotten in here in over a week." Mary told them, but something about her tone didn't sit right with the redhead.

Amity didn't take her eyes off of her as she readjusted her grip on her handgun, now more reluctant to give it up.

"That's... not possible." She said quietly, Bandit leaning closer to her so that their arms brushed- his form of comfort in the high stress situation.

She had only known him for about two days at that point, but it felt like so much longer.

His presence at her side was a stable comfort that she was so thankful for.

"We know they were headed this way. Got close enough to be under a day's walk." Bandit said, his voice strong and controlled in a way that Amity envied.

Mary shifted her weight from one foot to the other, an action that neither Amity nor Bandit missed before she was moving back around the grill, only pausing when Bandit's aim was readjusted to follow her.

"I'm just making sure that they didn't come in through the back and were missed. It's a big place, lots of people." Mary said in an attempt to soothe the Marine as she picked up a walkie, but Amity didn't miss what could be a threat in her words.

Lots of people- more than her and Bandit could take on alone.

"Katie, I've got a couple of survivors that came in through the front looking for their friends. Apparently they were close. Could you send me Gareth?" Mary spoke into the walkie, getting a crackly reply in return but the woman beamed at them after it came through.

"Gareth usually deals with the ins and outs of everything around here. If anyone is bound to know about your friends, it's him." The woman explained.

Amity shared a glance with Bandit, trying not to fidget in the silence that followed Mary's explaination. She was so tense that her shoulders were beginning to ache as she stared down the suspicious woman.

Being trained to notice everything from a person's expression to word usage, Amity noted how the woman had referred to her people as her friends when Amity had called them her family. For all the other woman knew, she could have been looking for her children, for her parents, for her siblings- yet she changed the wording to _friends_.

The only thing that broke her dissecting gaze on the older woman was the sound of a nearby door opening and she glanced over to see a man around her age enter the concrete courtyard.

He greeted Mary with a smile, not being shy about his approach until Bandit trained the barrel of his gun on his chest when he went to move closer to them.

"Whoa there." The man said, smiling a bit awkwardly at the action. He glanced over at Amity with a look that seemed almost amused by Bandit. "I'm Gareth."

"Gareth." Amity echoed, the action seeming to please the man as his smile grew a bit.

"That's right- and this is Terminus. I came here looking for sanctuary the same as you." Gareth told them. "You are looking for sanctuary, aren't you?"

"I'm looking for my family." Amity said, her tone edging on biting.

The man's eyebrows rose towards his hairline as he considered her before exchanging a look with Mary.

"We haven't had any newcomers brought in for over a week." Gareth told her, repeating what Mary had told them as he took a few steps closer, only pausing when Bandit took a step forward as well. The Marine was obviously set on meeting the man head-on if he was going to come near them. Bandit took control of situations with the subtlety of a bull.

"We saw the signs... they said they were coming here." Amity tried again, feeling a sense of hopelessness wash over her.

She had thought they were so close.

She thought that she would see them again- Maggie, Glenn, Merle, Sasha, and even Bob.

Apparently picking up on her despair, Bandit seemed torn between keeping his gun trained on the people in front of them now that Amity's had wavered or trying to soothe her.

"They could have gotten turned around or held up somewhere." Gareth spoke up, pulling Amity's eyes to him. "We can get you two settled and then we can talk about organizing a couple of groups to look for them."

That was something that actually had Amity relaxing as she looked at the man.

She wanted to find her family so desperately that it had become a physical ache in her chest, worse than the sharp twinge in her thigh from where she had gotten cut or the throbbing pain in her bandaged wrists.

"But now, we really do need to see all of your weapons. If you would lay them out in front of you, it will only take a second." Gareth instructed.

Again Amity found herself looking to Bandit, their eyes meeting before she nodded once and the man pressed his lips together before laying down his M16.

Amity followed suit with her handgun, pulling the other from her waistband and setting it down too.

Bandit seemed to be pulling knives out of the seams of his pants by how many he had apparently been carrying on his body.

Amity added a couple of knives of her own to her guns before taking a step back.

Gareth went to Bandit, patting the man down as Mary did the same to Amity.

The redhead was surprised to feel the roughness behind the older woman's touch, but she kept her mouth shut until Gareth was finished with Bandit and had moved to her side.

"We're really glad that you found us." He told her, his tone genuine but his eyes empty as he leaned in closer.

Now that he was right in front of her, Amity found herself a bit unsettled once again and her eyes had barely flickered over to Bandit before the man was pressing Gareth away from her with a firm hand to the man's chest.

"Back up." The Marine directed lowly.

Gareth didn't seem put out though as his eyes moved back to Amity, the woman shifting a bit in place as his gaze swept over her, landing briefly on the bandages that encased her wrists from where she had tore them up trying to break free of the bonds the men in the garage had her in.

"The road is hard out there, you've both been through a lot. We get it. Just so you know, we aren't those kind of people, but we aren't stupid either. I know that you aren't stupid enough to try anything stupid as well. So as long as we're clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems." Gareth told them. "Just solutions."

He gestured them closer to the grill where Mary was piling up a plate with food after Bandit and Amity had recollected their weapons.

The redhead took the plate from the woman, taking a step back so that Bandit could do the same, and again, she found Gareth at her side.

"I still haven't gotten your name." The man pointed out and Amity's eyes widened a bit, knowing that her daddy would be berating her for her rudeness if he was there with her.

"Oh, sorry about that! I'm Amity!" She said, taking Gareth's proffered hand in her own and giving it a small shake, trying not to seem too uncomfortable when he squeezed it a bit.

"And that's Bandit." She added, pulling her hand from his to gesture to her companion who had come up behind her, looking at the other man over her head and offering only a nod in greeting.

"That your real name?" Gareth asked Bandit, apparently trying to joke with the man, but it fell short when his only response was a flat look.

"So, about my family." Amity began, not being able to drop the subject now that she was where they were supposed to be.

She saw an abrupt movement out of her peripherals and turned to see that Mary was now moving quickly away from them and towards another nearby building.

"We'll help you find them." Gareth told her, his smile never fading as he spoke.

"Okay, yeah, but-" Amity tried again but the man cut over her words.

"If they're nearby like you said, then we will find them in no time." He said.

"I hope so, but-" She tried once more.

"They're not here!" Gareth snapped suddenly, his smile twisting from his lips into a bit of a snarl and before she had time to react, Amity was being tugged back a step, her plate falling to the ground along with Bandit's as the Marine placed himself in front of her.

"You want to try that tone again?" Bandit asked, voice hard.

Amity ducked her friend's arm to get a good look at Gareth's face as she spoke once more, her hand already reaching for her gun in her waistband.

"Where. Are. They?" She growled, the tone of the conversation shifting as she picked up what it was that Mary and Gareth had been trying to hide. It seemed that Gareth wasn't the most stable of men though, and while she had showed her hand fairly early, the man had all but threw his at her just due to impatience.

"I wouldn't touch that gun if I were you." Gareth replied easily, an amused smile on his lips once more as he looked at the pair in front of him before glancing at the buildings around them.

Amity looked up as Bandit did, spotting the glare of light off of a couple of scopes as snipers on the roof settled into place.

Gareth was in his element now. Amity could read the pleasure he took in being in control of the situation as plain as day. He was the type that got off on that kind of thing, that much was obvious.

"I'd hate to see you hurt, Amity. It's unnecessary." Gareth continued.

"Son of a bitch." Bandit cursed under his breath, pressing closer to Amity but there was no way to get her out of the line of fire of all of them.

"Where are they?" Amity spat, nearly shaking with anger as she refrained from drawing her gun and simply blowing the guy's brains out to get to her family.

She couldn't risk Bandit like that, not after all he had done for her.

"I'll show you." Gareth told her and Amity looked at him with disbelief, causing him to laugh.

"I really will. Why not? There's nothing to lose now. You don't trust us." He reasoned before reaching towards Amity's waist, the motion causing Bandit to lunge at him.

"Ah, ah, ah." Gareth warned the man, pointing to one of the snipers. "I wouldn't move, Die Hard. Unless you _want_ her pretty brains splattered all over the concrete?"

That had the man freezing even as Gareth continued his actions and tugged Amity's handguns free from her belt along with her knives. He moved onto Bandit then, pulling everything free from where he had watched the Marine stash them earlier after he took his gun.

"Alright, again, don't be stupid. It would be such a waste." Gareth told them both before offering his hand out towards Amity.

The woman eyed it with disbelief, looking like he had just offered her a walker leg instead.

"Do you want to see your _family_ or not?" He asked, sneering the word she had used to refer to her group, but obviously enjoying the power he had over her actions.

Amity chewed the inside of her cheek, hating the feeling that the man had bubbling up inside of her.

It was that helplessness again.

There was nothing she could do but play along if she wanted to see her people.

With a noise of disgust, barely heard over the pissed off growl that was rumbling from Bandit, Amity slapped her hand into Gareth's.

"Take me to them now or I'll break every single one of your fingers." Amity snapped as Gareth threaded said fingers through her own with a smile that had anger welling up in her that much faster.

"As you wish, Amity." Gareth said, leading the way through the compound, making sure to stay outside and within the scope of at least two snipers.

Amity could barely believe the size of the place and as they walked and she mentally concreted the path they had taken into her mind so that they wouldn't get lost getting out.

She would find her people and they would leave no matter what.

Gareth chatted as they walked, acting as if he and her were on a pleasant stroll alone rather than him leading her to where he had her friends presumably trapped with a pissed of Marine following behind them and crosshairs trained on her head.

Rounding a corner, Amity spotted an area that looked like it was used for cleaning their hunts. After so long around Daryl, Amity recognized some of the tools hanging from the chainlink fence, but what had her pausing was the shapes of the bones piled next to a large tarp. Her eyes widened and bile rose in her throat as her steps faltered.

Those were the bones of a human, of multiple humans. Amity took enough anatomy and physiology courses in her time to know that for certain.

"Bandit." She said, her voice choked and it was only then that Gareth seemed to clue into the woman's distress.

He followed her eyes over to the gore while Bandit cursed up a storm behind them, the Marine having to resist his body screaming at him to just grab Amity and run the hell out of there as fast as they could without looking back.

They had walked into a slaughterhouse.

"Fish have to swim, people have to eat." Gareth said with a shrug of his shoulders, obviously unmoved by the sight next to them.

Amity had to swallow back a gag, her eyes watering with the effort as she realized that the meat on the grill when they first came in was not from an animal like she had assumed.

Why wouldn't she have assumed that?

"You're _sick_." She told Gareth, trying to rip her hand from the man's but he wouldn't let go.

"Says the one who almost ate one of her friends." Gareth replied and Amity felt her heart stop in her chest before red colored her vision.

Swinging with her non-dominate hand since it was the only one free of his hold, Amity struck out suddenly. The tension from not being able to fight back in the garage and when she found out that her family really was in Terminus finally snapping.

Her fist made contact with the side of the man's face, sending him reeling and she went to go after him but a spray of bullets hit the ground around her feet.

Bandit's hand wrapped around her bicep, pulling her back against his chest as Gareth straightened up with rage in his eyes, his nose bleeding from her hit.

"You psychotic son of a bitch! You killed them!" Amity screeched, struggling against Bandit who was trying desperately to keep the woman from getting herself shot in the head.

"Die Hard, start walking. Now." The man said, his tone carrying an edge that Amity supposed should have had her regretting her actions, but it didn't.

Her friends were gone. They were killed, cooked, and eaten after looking for a safe place to regroup.

She would kill every last person in the godforsaken place that was Terminus.

Bandit didn't move nor did he release his hold on Amity.

"NOW! Before I blow her pretty little head sky high!" The man yelled.

Heart pounding in her chest, Amity's breathing picked up when Bandit's grip loosened and he stepped away from her.

Wide blue eyes turned to him and he gave her a small nod, a reassurance that she hadn't realized she was seeking until she received it.

The majority of the guns followed Bandit as he moved down one of the alleyways between the buildings, but enough stayed trained on her to ensure his cooperation.

Amity was forced to follow a few steps after by Gareth who had reached out to touch her, but backed up with a bloody smile as Amity lashed out at him once more.

They rounded the corner and found themselves in an open area along one of the chainlink fences. She spotted the barrels of guns that were trained through the rungs, manned by people who didn't know they were going to be dead soon if she had anything to do with it.

Her hands trembled as she balled them up and pressed them roughly against her thighs.

"Go to train car A and climb the steps." Gareth ordered Bandit, but now that they had stopped together, his eyes never left Amity.

Bandit did as directed though Amity knew that following the orders of anyone was killing him.

"Open the door and go in."

"Not without-" Bandit began, his deep voice booming across the space but Gareth cut him off.

"You want to be the reason she dies?" He asked the Marine, voice even as he smiled at Amity.

The woman ignored the twisted man, choosing instead to look over at her friend who she gave a nod just like he had her, reassuring him that she would be okay.

She could see Bandit's jaw clench even from the distance she was at, but the man gripped the metal door and pulled it open with a harsh screeching noise. He spared one last look at Amity before he climbed inside and out of her view.

"Now what to do with you." Gareth sing-songed from in front of her, moving closer now without any hesitation though his nose was still openly bleeding from her punch.

"You said you were taking me to my family." Amity reminded him of his lie.

"That was before you hit me." Gareth shot back and the woman scoffed.

He was never taking her to her people. He killed her people.

"Oh boo fucking hoo." She snapped, her temper getting the best of her once more.

"Putting you in there with him would be such a waste." Gareth lamented, as if she had never spoken. His eyes roved over her, thoughtful instead of lustful.

"What did you do before this?" He asked her.

"I was a mechanic." She replied without missing a beat and that made the man pause.

"Liar." He stated after a moment.

"Let Bandit go." She told him.

"Answer my question." He countered.

Grinding her teeth, the redhead wrestled in her temper enough so that she could answer the man.

"I was a clinical neuropsychologist." Amity admitted.

"Now that sounds more like it." Gareth told her, making Amity wonder why that was.

"Bandit." She insisted and Gareth actually sighed.

"Fine, but I'll be seeing you soon, _doctor_." The man told her, drawing out the last word playfully and Amity went to hit him once more but another man grabbed her arm.

"Let me go!" She yelled, struggling against his hold as he pulled her away from Gareth.

The man wasn't nearly as big as Michael or Bandit and she landed a good hit to his gut before a spray of bullets against the concrete had her stopping her struggle.

"Fuck you!" She yelled up towards the roof of the building, knowing the sniper would hear her as Gareth chuckled nearby.

Bullets sprayed against the stairs leading up to the train car as well and Amity knew that Bandit must have attempted to come out upon hearing her struggle.

"Let go of me, jack dick!" Amity continued to screech, literally clawing at the man holding onto her even as he walked her towards the car where Bandit had been directed into moments earlier.

"I'll knock your teeth in! I swear I will-" Her words were cut off abruptly as she was gracelessly tossed onto the floor of the train car, the door being slid shut behind her.

In a second flat, Amity was springing back onto her feet and throwing herself at the metal door, fists banging against it until a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back from the door.

"You're going to hurt yourself." Bandit's voice rumbled in her ear as he pressed her back against his chest, stopping her from lashing out anymore.

She stilled at his words, still breathing hard as she took a moment before pulling away from him and turning to find his eyes.

"You okay?" She asked and he snorted in return.

"Are _you_ okay?" He echoed and she nodded, but the man reached out for her hand all the same, pulling it up so that he could look at her knuckles after walloping Gareth in the face.

She was just about to tell him that she was fine when movement from the far end of the railcar caught her attention and immediately she stiffened, Bandit looking to her then to the back end before smiling softly.

"Relax, Bambi." He told her, but the woman didn't do so until a familiar woman stepped forward, her green eyes glinting with unshed tears.

Amity felt her breath rush out of her, her hands trembling slightly as she looked at her best friend.

She was alive, and she was right in front of her.

She was... alive?

"Amity?" Maggie asked, her voice timid even though a wide smile was on her face.

"Maggie!" Amity threw herself at the younger woman in a sudden burst of emotion, wrapping her arms tightly around her and forcing herself not to start blubbering like a baby.

"I missed you so much. I knew I'd find you guys. I was alone, but I kept looking, and Bandit found me then we found your signs and-" Amity's words came tumbling out of her in a big rush and she felt Maggie shaking as the woman laughed.

They pulled back from one another, Glenn gathering her up in a big hug next as Maggie shook her head at them both.

"Slow dow, Am." She suggested, but Amity's head was spinning.

She could barely believe it. She had found them.

"He said you were _dead_." Amity told them, watching sadness and confusion flash over the faces of her friends until Glenn shook his head.

"Everyone who we came here with is fine." He reassured her, lifting a weight out of Amity's chest.

"Gonna make yourself pass the hell out. S'been only a minute and I'm already sick of yer damn blubberin'." A familiar gruff voice drawled out, the tone and accent being so close to the one that she so desperately wanted to hear that she felt her chest twinge painfully before she was turning and finding Merle in the dim light of the train car.

"Missed you too, Dixon." Amity told him, smiling brightly over at him until further movement behind Sasha and Bob, who were a step behind Maggie and Glenn, had her tensing.

"It's okay, Am. They're friends. We met them out there too." Maggie said, quickly working to calm her friend as she reached out to take her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"We've got a lot of catching up to do." Glenn told her, looking between his new friends and the mountain of a man that hovered behind Amity.

* * *

The morning greeted Daryl with a sore back from sleeping on the hard concrete ground of the car garage. He sat up at the sound of everyone else moving around him, casting observant eyes on the figures of the rest of the group he was with before pushing himself to his feet.

After gathering up everything, the group was on the move once more and Daryl stepped out through the metal door behind the rest of the guys, only hesitating when he took notice of Len's body abandoned by the stairs.

The sight of the mistreated corpse had the hunter hesitating, considering the body for a moment before snatching up a nearby abandoned sheet and moving to cover the dead guy.

Something made him pause though, had his hands hesitating in their actions until he eventually tossed the sheet back from where he got it.

He didn't owe the guy shit for shit.

He didn't owe anyone nothin' anymore.

The only people he gave a shit about were gone and it had made him soft.

He couldn't deal with the pain of caring again, so he chose not to.

Daryl followed the rest of the group along through the woods, watching their backs with a bit of detached ease that came with not truly caring about those you rolled with.

It had been something that Daryl had struggled with when he first joined the group in the quarry, but that had been different.

They had been good people- better than the shit head pair that him and his brother had made at the time and yet they were still kept around, even if it was on the edges.

Joe, who had been walking along beside of him, broke up Daryl's trip down memory lane by offering out a flask his way.

"White Lightnin'. Easiest thing to make with the least amount of supplies." The leader explained.

"I'd start slow if I was you." He continued once Daryl took it from him, throwing back a large swig without heeding the man's warning. "Your stomach's probably emptier than you think."

The hunter made a noise of appreciation at the burn that followed the liquor down his throat before he handed the flask back to Joe.

"I ain't been lit at dawn since before everything fell apart." Daryl said.

"Fell apart." Joe echoed. "I never looked at it like that. Seems to me like things are finally starting to fall together."

"At least for guys like us." Joe clarified. "Livin' like this, survivin'. We've been doing this from the start, right?"

Finally crossing the field, Daryl noted that they had made their way back onto the railroad tracks, but this time the sign that was next to them caught his attention.

"Getting closer." One of the other men said as Daryl eyed the map and writing above it.

Sanctuary for all?

There wasn't _any_ sanctuary anymore.

Just a less shit place to lay your head down for a night.

He couldn't shake the way the weirdly familiar words echoed in his head though.

"You seen this before?" Daryl asked Joe.

"Oh, yeah." The leader answered. "I'll tell you what it is. It's a lie. Ain't no sanctuary for all. Ain't gonna welcome guys like you and me with open arms."

Joe continued on then and Daryl found himself hesitating for only a moment before following as well.

He walked in silence, turning the words written on the sign over in his head time and time again until they finally clicked.

He remembered the roar of the engine of Zach's car, the feeling of Amity's hand in his before he pulled it away to mess with the radio since he knew the woman couldn't take the silence pressing in on her. They had all looked on in shock when a voice cut through static on the radio, and it was only then that Daryl remembered what it had said.

 _Find sanctuary._

"So is that where we're headed?" Daryl asked Joe who was walking at his side once again.

"So now you're asking?" Joe countered, turning his eyes on the hunter.

"That's right." Daryl replied, not feeding into his game.

"We were in a house minding our own business and this walking piece of fecal matter was hiding in the home." Joe explained. "Strangled our colleague Lou and left him to turn. Lou came at all of us. He lit out. We tracked him to these tracks, one of those signs, and thus we've got a destination in mind."

"You see his face?" Daryl wondered.

"Only Tony." Joe said. "That's enough for a reckoning."

Daryl wasn't sure how well the idea of assisting in the tracking down of a person who had done him no wrong sat with him, but he figured he would just go back to biding his time and once they gained on the person, he'd dip out like he had originally planned.

The hunter watched as one of the Claimers ahead of him paused, his eyes on something off to the side of the tracks and upon laying his own eyes on it, Daryl surprised even himself by calling out, "Claimed."

It was too late to go back on what he said and the hunter wasn't sure that he wanted to as he kneeled down to pull up the small strawberry plant with a single red fruit hanging amongst its withering leaves.

Claiming was still stupid, still just a damn word, but it was _something_.

It was a type of code and he reckoned he could understand that.

* * *

 **Well, it seems like our redheaded ball of fire and Marine found more than they were looking for in Terminus, but simultaneously not enough. Where's Michael? Where's Daryl? But thank God we at least found _Merle._**

 **Tbh, Maggie and Amity's friendship makes me emotional so writing their reunion had me all choked up.**

 **Thanks for reading another chapter, I hope you all enjoyed it!**

 **Also, thanks for the reviews and PMs about the idea of a Daryl/Amity (Damity? honestly that sounds about right for them lmao) AU! I've already started on the first chapter for that so expect to see it up soon! I will let you all know when it is :)**

 **Don't forget to leave your thoughts on this chappie in a review! xx**


	38. Chapter 38

When night fell, Amity was thankful for the reprieve from the Georgia sun that was heating up the metal car they were in like a stove. She couldn't imagine being in there all day long, but she knew that her friends had dealt with that already.

Though locked away, with her friends beside of her Amity was the most at ease that she had been for days and that led to her nodding off fairly quickly after settling down beside of Maggie, her head resting against the younger woman's thigh.

She heard the murmur of voices around her, noted the unfamiliar ones that came from the four people she had been briefly introduced to until Glenn saw both her and Maggie's emotional exhaustion and decided that they could catch up in the morning.

She knew Abraham was military just by looking at the man, something that Bandit confirmed to her. He seemed to be cozy with Rosita, the gorgeous hispanic woman that he rolled with. Tara was friendly, and funny from what Amity had gathered, but the woman was quiet and looked to Glenn with something that she couldn't place.

At first she had thought it was attraction, but that was something she quickly dismissed just due to the vibe of their interaction. It was like she owed her friend something, which interested Amity.

Then there was Eugene.

The man with the Billy Ray Cyrus haircut who spoke like a he was reading straight off of a wikipedia page. Amity didn't know what to make of the man, but something about him had her narrowing her eyes at him, trying to get a read on him every time he spoke.

When she woke up, the group had spread out through the train car a bit. The rising heat making them hesitant to be scrunched up near one another though that didn't stop Amity.

She sat just next to Maggie, leaning back against the side of the train car with her feet laid out straight in front of her.

The rest of the group was spread around but within earshot as Amity explained her time on her own, ghosting over the finer details of the attack in the garage though the look on Maggie's face said that they would talk about it later.

When she got to the part about Bandit saving her, she all but beamed over at the Marine who was still on his feet and leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the train car from her.

Maggie looked at the man as well, her expression less open than Amity's but after a second she nodded her head at the man, offering a silent thanks for helping out her best friend. Bandit only hesitated a moment before nodding back.

Maggie took it upon herself to recount her journey with Merle, Sasha, and Bob. As she spun her tale up until the point where they had ran into Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene, Merle took to interjecting at random points and Amity could barely keep the smile off her face as he did so.

She would be lying if she said she hadn't missed the crude man.

After Glenn told his story, Amity looked towards Abraham expectantly.

"You need something, Red?" The man asked her and Amity raised a brow at him.

"Your story, _Red_. I want to hear it." Amity told him in return, smirking as she was finally able to turn the nickname that so many used for her back onto someone for once.

Her reply had an amused snort coming from Merle, the man looking over at Abraham in a way that made it obvious to Amity that they did not get along.

"Yeah, Sarge, you go on and tell Miss Amity here about your big ole mission." Merle drawled out, sitting forward as if he was settling in to watch a show. Amity looked at him with a bit of confusion, but Merle met her eyes steadily.

"Oh, wait. Ya ain't no Miss though, are ya, sugar?" Merle asked her, seeming to correct himself but Amity still wasn't following. "Nah, she's _Doctor_ Amity Walker. So I'm sure you'd rather talk to her, huh, Camero Cut?"

Amity's attention was redirected to Eugene then and she noted a flash of something behind his eyes- unease, maybe nervousness? She knew that it was a common effect Merle had on people, but she would have thought the man would be used to him at that point.

"Okay, I'm lost." Amity told the train car, trying to clear the air and get back on track.

"We're on a mission to get Eugene to Washington, D.C.." Abraham announced, puffing his chest out a bit while Amity looked at him like he lost his marbles.

What in the hell could be in D.C. that would make it worth tromping all of the way up there?

"Eugene's a scientist. He knows what caused this whole thing." Rosita supplied, obviously trying to be more helpful than her companion.

It didn't really help anything though as Amity could scarcely believe what she was hearing. She turned her eyes to Bandit, catching his look of utter disbelief as well before he seemed to really look at her for a moment and shrug.

The way he saw it, she was living proof that a cause could be known and a cure could be created.

Their silent exchange wasn't missed by anyone in the train car.

"You _know_ or you _think_ you know?" Amity asked Eugene, moving to rise to her feet and taking ahold of Bandit's offered hand of assistance.

Once she had her boots under her once again, the woman stalked closer to Eugene, ignoring the way Abraham sidled up next to him as if he would need to intervene.

The man didn't intimidate her for a second.

"Because there is a hell of a difference between the two." She informed him.

"He'd been talking to the muckety-mucks in Washington on his satellite phone. The past couple weeks, nobody's been picking up on the other end." Abraham informed her, but Amity didn't spare the ginger man a glance.

She kept her eyes trained on Eugene.

"The CDC didn't know, but _you_ do?" Amity asked him, scanning his face. "Then let's hear it."

"It's classified." Eugene replied and Amity heard Merle snort derisively once more as Bandit scoffed.

"That's all the fucker says. _'It's classified.'_ Ain't nothin' us simple folk can wrap our heads around apparently." Merle called out from where he was sat, giving Eugene a dirty look.

It was obvious that Merle wasn't buying the guy's story for a hot minute.

"Nothing is classified anymore, or have you forgotten the dead people walking around outside?" Bandit asked hotly.

"Listen, fucknut, Eugene's got the answers while you don't have two brain cells to rub together to keep you warm at night-" Abraham began but Bandit cut him off.

"Oh, so the ground pounder's got lip, huh? I suggest you tuck it the fuck away, Sergeant." Bandit snapped in a tone that Amity had never heard him use before, but from the look on Abraham's face, it was a kind of language they both spoke. Even Merle was looking at the man with renewed interest.

"Jarhead." Abraham replied simply, eyeing Bandit who crossed thick arms over his broad chest. "Should have known from the name."

"Bandit was a Major General in the Marines." Amity supplied as an explaination with a wave towards her traveling companion, watching as Abraham suddenly looked torn. It was the end of the world, but the ginger man still proclaimed his title and respected his years of service, with that came the struggle of trying to drop his training.

"I'm assuming you outrank him?" Amity asked her friend who chuckled at her question, still amused with Amity's lack of knowledge involving the military.

"Outranks near everyone, Red." Merle chimed in, making the woman shoot Bandit a look that clearly said they would discuss that slight of information soon enough.

"Moving past that-" Amity began, waving off both Abraham and Bandit as she redirected her attention to Eugene. "-You can't just make claims like that without backing them up. I spoke to a doctor at the CDC, I saw the brain scans of an infected. I studied those scans for months, and you just have all of the answers, but it's _classified_?"

"That it is, m'am. I am sure that they will appreciate your work at the capitol but it is unnecessary for you to continue any longer." Eugene told her and Amity was sure that she looked murderous at that point.

"Unnecessary!?" She yelled, about to say more but the sound of footsteps on the top of the container had them all freezing.

"Sounds like someone is getting worked up in there." Gareth's voice called from outside, making Amity's temper spike that much more.

"Motherfu-" Amity began, but Gareth cut her off.

"Put your backs to the wall on either side of the train car now!" He demanded and after exchanging looks, they all complied.

"Amity, put your hands on your head and move towards the door you came in through. I want to take a little walk." He added.

The redhead found herself unable to move, not that she wanted to, and she looked first at Maggie and Glenn before turning her eyes on Merle and finally Bandit.

"Don't move, Bambi." Bandit told her, his voice low as he almost silently crossed the trailer to her, his body tense and defensive as he put himself between her and the door.

"Do I have to remind you about what happens if you don't listen, Die Hard?" Gareth called out, as if the man knew what Bandit had done. "I brought you to your friends just like I said I would, Amity. The least you could do is take a walk with me."

Swallowing hard, Amity steeled her nerves before she placed a small hand against Bandit's chest, pushing against the man in a request for him to move back.

"No, you're not-" Bandit started but Amity shook her head at him, pushing harder until he complied and she was crossing the rail car towards the door.

She heard Maggie let out a distressed whimper from behind her and looked over her shoulder to give her friend a reassuring smile.

"I'll be back in a bit." She told them, looking to Merle as the man grumbled angrily.

"I'll gut every last one of 'em if ya ain't, princess." He told her, his words as touching as they could be when practically growled at her.

Amity gave the man a nod before the door to the train car was being pulled open.

She squinted against the abrupt sunlight before she took a step out.

* * *

They were well into dusk by the time the group around him began to slow and Joe began muttering to himself.

"I was damn sure that we were gonna catch up to the son of a bitch today." He lamented, sounding displeased but Daryl didn't comment on anything he was on about.

The two men were lingering near the back end of the group like they usually did and Daryl was more than ready to turn in for the night. He planned on slipping away soon enough and needed some good rest before doing so.

He was just about to suggest stopping when suddenly Tony hissed from ahead of them.

"There's a light." He informed them all, the group dropping into low crouches immediately as they stalked up towards the road.

Daryl could faintly spot two figures against the light, a large shadow nearby making up the shape of a vehicle.

He hung back as Joe continued to creep forward and had a whispered conversation with Tony.

"We're movin' in, boys!" Joe informed them all with a dark smile. "The reckonin' has arrived."

As a unit, the group moved silently forward and up the slope towards the people. Daryl found himself circling around the back of the car, hanging on the edges as Joe drew his gun and went directly for the pair with Tony at his side.

It didn't take long for Daryl to realize that he wanted no part of any of it, but something was keeping him lingering.

The hunter had relied on his gut for years and even more so once the world went to hell. It never led him astray before and he didn't think it was going to start now.

With that in mind, the hunter crept closer in time to hear Joe's small speech.

"Today is a day of reckoning, sir. Restitution. A balancing of the whole damn universe." Joe announced to the man at the end of his gun.

Daryl pushed closer.

"Shit, and I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve!" Joe said, shaking his head as he laughed. "Now who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh? Nine Mississippi."

Daryl noted the familiar figure that the man and woman cut against the darkness.

"Eight Mississippi."

Daryl felt his stomach drop to his feet at the same time his heart leapt into his throat.

"Joe!" He called out, moving quickly forward now and confirming that the pair in front of him really were who he had thought they were.

He had found Rick and Michonne.

They weren't all dead.

"Hold up." He choked out.

"You're stopping me on eight, Daryl." Joe told him, his voice a warning.

"Just hold up." The hunter insisted, trying to keep the plea out of his voice.

Weakness wouldn't fly with the men he had been rolling with.

"This is the guy that killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about." Tony growled out, but Joe shook his head.

"The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time." The leader reasoned. "Say your piece, Daryl."

Swallowing hard, the hunter ran over anything and everything that he could say to convince Joe to let his friends go. Again, he found himself wishing for Amity's skill with people, for her silver tongue.

"These people, you're gonna let 'em go." Daryl said slowly. "These are good people."

"Now, I think Lou would disagree with you on that." Joe said, and the man knew that his words hadn't done the trick. "I'll, of course, have to speak for him and all 'cause your friend here strangled him in a bathroom."

Desperation rose inside of Daryl and he quickly pressed on.

"You want blood, I get it." He said, laying down his crossbow against the asphalt. "Take it from me, man. Come on."

"This man killed our friend." Joe said slowly, looking at Daryl as if he had just kicked his cat. "You say he's good people. See, now that right there is a lie. It's a lie!" He snapped and it was the other boot dropping.

A blow from behind his Daryl before he even had a chance to consider defending himself.

"No!" Rick called out, seeing the men converge on his friend.

"Teach him, fellas." Joe encouraged. "Teach him all the way."

Daryl struggled against the men around him, taking blow after blow before he was being slammed up against a car. He could faintly make out the sound of a small voice, Carl, and swung back against his attackers but a hit to his head had his ears ringing.

He tried to shove himself away from the men, spotting Carl on the ground and the large fucker that was a part of the Claimers stalking towards him.

"No-" Daryl tried put a foot being planted into his ribcage had him biting off his protest, his body going into pure survival mode as he attempted to drag himself away now that he was on the ground, but he was being yanked up a second later.

All at once, the beating seemed to fall back and Daryl found himself with his back against the car, a wet gurgling sound reaching his ears and he turned just in time to see Joe fall to the ground with his throat tore out.

Michonne acted a second before he did, shooting her captor in the head with his own gun as Daryl pushed one of his attackers away. The woman blew a shot through that man's head as well before turning to the guy who held Carl captive a blade to his throat.

Daryl's focus for the moment was on the other man who had been beating him. He sent him to the ground with a heavy blow to the face, kicking him for good measure once he was there before slamming the heel of his boot into his temple.

He wouldn't be coming back.

Daryl stumbled back to the car, leaning heavily against the hood as his vision spun the world around him. He breathed heavily, trying to take note of the situation and found that Carl was safely tucked into Michonne's arms, both of their eyes on Rick.

The hunter found his friend and watched as he dug the knife he held into the shoulder of the man who had been trying to force himself on his son. He spat out blood as he watched him do it again, and again, and again.

The guy was all but dead, and yet Daryl didn't care to tell Rick to stop.

* * *

"So, what happened to your face?" Gareth asked as they walked along, his fingers threaded through Amity's once more after the man greeted her with a casual threat to her friends if she didn't do as he directed.

His power trip was something that she ached to ruin.

"That's rather rude to ask someone, don't you think?" Amity replied, her tone clipped as she wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but in conversation with the man at her side.

Shrugging his shoulders, Gareth's eye searched the redhead's expression.

Understanding that he was still waiting for an answer, Amity sighed softly to herself before speaking.

"I got cut by a board. It was an accident." She told him.

"Before or after the Outbreak?" He asked in return.

"After."

"By one of your group members?" He questioned further.

"He died a long time ago." Amity said, her voice quiet.

"Good." Gareth stated simply.

His reply had her teeth clenching together, her jaw twitching under the force of it as she tried to hold it together.

Shane's passing had maybe been for the best in the end, but it wasn't something she saw as good at all. He was her friend even as he began to lose himself, and he meant a lot to Rick and Carl.

"Is there a reason you wanted me out here?" Amity asked, losing her patience with the man's silence.

"Can I not just take pleasure in your presence?" Gareth wondered and Amity scoffed in return.

Shaking his head a bit at her attitude, Gareth led the woman along towards one of the big buildings.

"There actually is a reason, yes." He told her, pushing open the door and pulling her into a large dark room.

The space was lit only by the glow of the numerous candles that were spread throughout the room. She took in the names on the floor, the flowers and pictures and other memorials laying about.

"We used to help people." Gareth said, speaking softly but still his voice echoed hauntingly throughout the large room. "We saved people, but things changed. People came in and..."

After trailing off, the young man's eyes seemed to ghost over each and every name painted near the center of the room. "...After that things changed. We couldn't afford to be soft anymore. We couldn't afford to be weak."

Turning his gaze to Amity, who was frozen by his side, the man pulled their clasped hands to his chest and though she could feel the rhythm of his heart against her knuckles, she wasn't certain that it was anything more than an organ to him.

"I know that you've been through a lot out there. I can see it in your eyes, in your scars, but.. you don't know what it is to be hungry." Gareth told her, his words making Amity's stomach violently turn over.

Bile rose in her throat at the thought of what he was trying to sell her on.

"You know bears, when they start to starve, they eat their young. If the bear dies, the cub dies anyway. But if the bear lives, it can always have another cub." Gareth said, his tone persuasive and his words informative, but Amity wasn't sure what kind of person he took her for.

He had first told her that her friends were dead and cooked, threw her in a train car, and though they were alive, he now expected her to be on board with his twisted lifestyle.

 _Fuck that._

"It's a choice, Amity. You can join us or you can feed us." He finished and the woman stood quietly for a moment, simply looking at him before wrenching her hand from his and bolting towards one of the doors.

Gareth didn't seem concerned with her fleeing though and followed along at a more leisurely pace until the woman found herself outside of the same train car she had come from, the one with her family inside of it.

"Is that what you want, Amity? To give up and become food?" Gareth called out as he strolled into the yard, watching the woman take in the area with wide calculating eyes as she tried to formulate some kind of plan.

"I'm offering you a chance. A chance to survive!" He said, stopping only a few paces away from her.

Spinning on her heel to face them, fury being the main emotion that she felt welling up in her chest, her blue eyes blazing with it, Amity sneered at the man.

"There's more to life than just survival." She told him, her chest clenching.

The man regarded her for a moment before shaking his head slowly, a frown in place on his lips as he looked at her.

"I thought you were smarter than that." He said, his voice holding regret.

It was only seconds later that the woman found herself being dragged towards the train car again, the men surrounding it warning her friends inside to stay back as the door was pulled open and she was shoved inside, a pair of strong arms catching her as she stumbled.

"Welcome back." Bandit said, steadying her as the door screeched shut once more.

"Sounds like ya had a hell of time with Hannibal out there." Merle commented, pulling a heavy sigh from the woman.

* * *

It took a while for Daryl's head to stop spinning enough that he could be useful, and as the sun rose in the sky, the hunter made quick work of dragging the corpses of the Claimers into the tree line where Carl wouldn't have to see them before grabbing a bottle of water from Tony's pack and heading over to Rick who was sat down on the road, leaning against the side of the car.

Inside the vehicle was Michonne and Carl, the two taking refuge there and the hunter hoped that they were getting some rest after the shit that went down that night.

Stopping near Rick, Daryl pulled the cloth he kept out of his back pocket and poured some water onto it.

"We should save it to drink." Rick told him but Daryl shook his head, offering out the damp rag to his friend.

"You can't see yourself, he can." He informed the former sheriff.

To Daryl, the man looked like the survivor he was through and through, and to him, that was nothing to be ashamed of.

Looking at the man through the eyes of his son, or even the eyes of himself at Carl's age, he knew that he would have seen something different.

"I didn't know what they were." Daryl said softly, placing his crossbow against the vehicle before sitting down next to Rick as he wiped his face.

He felt the need to explain himself to the other man, to make him understand that he was still someone he could trust.

"How'd you wind up with them?" Rick asked.

"I was with Beth. We got out together. I was with her for a while." Daryl explained, holding back the emotion that threatened to choke up his words.

A heavy silence fell between them for a long while until Rick spoke again.

"Is she dead?" He wondered.

"She's just... gone." Daryl replied, and Rick nodded.

The leader may not have fully understood the details of what had happened, but he understood about people just being gone.

Everyone from the prison was just gone.

Everyone but them.

"After that, that's when they found me." Daryl continued to explain. "I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. _Stupid_ , but it was somethin'. It was enough."

"And you were alone." Rick stated.

Daryl considered that for a moment, his tongue darting out to wet his lips before he pressed on with his story.

"They said they were looking for some guy." He said. "Last night they said they spotted him. I was hanging back and I was gonna leave... but I stayed. That's when I saw it was you three. Right when you saw me."

Daryl took a deep breath, trying to steady himself amongst the guilt and disgust he felt.

"I didn't know what they could do." He admitted.

"It's not on you, Daryl." Rick said, watching the hole that his friend was digging in his mind.

"Hey." He said firmly, gaining the hunter's attention. "It's not on you."

Daryl heard his words, comprehended them, but they didn't lessen the guilt in his chest over what had happened.

He could have stopped them- it was just another situation he fell flat in.

"You being back with us here, now, that's everything." Rick told him, pulling him out of his mind once again. "You're my brother."

That statement had the hunter pausing, his sharp eyes searching the face of the man next to him as if hunting for any discrepancy, any hint of a lie. He didn't want Rick to be talking just to try to make him feel better because he was a good man, but as he met his gaze, he knew that Rick had meant what he said.

That was everything to Daryl.

Leaning his head back against the car, Daryl let the words of trust, of reliance, sink into him before he was looking back at his friend, his brother, once more.

"Hey, what ya did last night..." He began, regaining Rick's attention. "Anybody woulda done that."

"No, not that." Rick protested with a shake of his head.

"Somethin' happened. That ain't you." Daryl told him.

"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese." Rick reasoned. "It ain't all of it, but that's me. That's why I'm here now. That's why Carl is. I want to keep him safe, that's all that matters."

* * *

Now back in the relative safety of the train car, and most importantly, away from Gareth, Amity found herself sitting on the floor of the trailer once again.

This time it was Bandit who was sat close to her side, his hands reaching for her arm so that he could go about inspecting the bandages that encased her wrists.

She noticed the way that her friends eyed the dirty gauze with varying emotions; some concern, some sadness, and in the case of Merle Dixon- anger.

Amity knew the eldest Dixon well enough to know when he was pissed off and she was sure that at the root of it all, it was the helplessness of the situation they were in that was causing it.

"Ya know my baby brother ain't gonna take to kindly to you touchin' his woman like that." Merle drawled out towards Bandit, the Marine's hands stilling where they had enfolded Amity's now bruised knuckles between them.

He looked up at the redhead before over to the crude redneck, his face holding nothing but indifference as he observed him.

"Knock it off, Dixon." Amity sighed with a roll of her eyes.

It wasn't like that between her and Bandit, especially not on her end.

Her hunter was out there somewhere, she just had to get out of the damn train car in order to find him.

"I know ya ain't tryin' to step out, Red. If ya think I'm gonna sit over here while my brother's woman-" Merle began but Amity cut him off with a huff.

"While your brother's woman does _what_ , Merle? What am I doing that is oh so damn upsetting to you?" Amity snapped, her sudden temper spike surprising the newcomers to their group while the older members simply watched the fireworks.

"Damn jarhead is-"

"What? Helping me with my _bandages_? Helping to make sure the _wounds_ I got thanks to a group of sick fucks don't get infected after he _risked his life_ to save me from them? Is that what he's doing, Dixon?" Amity spat, Merle's ire rising to meet her's.

From the start Amity and Merle had challenged one another and seemed to take pleasure in doing so, but put the two in a hot metal box when they are both already riled up and you could expect nothing less than an explosion.

"If Daryl was here-" Merle tried again.

"Daryl's not here, Merle, or haven't you noticed? Because I sure the hell have!" The woman said, her voice suddenly lacking its previous heat as her words got caught in her throat.

Up until that point, Amity had done a fairly good job at keeping her mind in the positives despite what she had gone through. She focused on the fact that she would find people from the prison. That there would be survivors.

In that moment though, the negatives kept piling up.

The loneliness she had felt, the fear and helplessness in the garage, the wariness then sudden relief of Bandit's appearence, the hope that came at the sight of Maggie's sign to Glenn.

Then there came the wariness of Terminus, the anger when they thought they were hiding her friends from her, then the anguish when she thought they were dead. That was followed by the quick relief of finding them alive, but being trapped in a box, and to top it all off, Michael and Daryl were nowhere to be found and Merle Dixon was being an asshole.

A tense silence had fallen over the train car after Amity's last statement.

The woman kept her blue eyes focused on Bandit's hands as the man continued to fiddle with her bandages before gently rubbing the pad of his thumb over her bruised knuckles, pulling her eyes up to his where he offered her a reassuring nod.

"We need to get the hell out of here." Abraham muttered after a few long moments, breaking the silence as everyone voiced various agreements.

"We need to figure out how." Bandit added, his dark eyes roving over the group in front of him.

"All I know is that we're going to have to be prepared to fight." Amity said, her voice soft as she leaned back against the metal wall of the car, a sigh leaving her lips.

She was always ready for a fight.


	39. Chapter 39

The sun had risen after another fitful sleep on the floor of the train car. With the coolness of the nights, Amity had tucked herself tightly between Maggie and Bandit.

The Marine was hesitant to leave her side, even with the looks that Merle kept throwing him despite Amity having put the older man in his place the night before.

The redhead had been the first person that Bandit had relied on, or even cared about the fate of, since he had lost his brother and then his first group. He wasn't going to abandon her just because some asshole thought that his brother had some sort of claim to her presence.

Amity had spoken in passing about a man who Bandit assumed had been her lover, but he had never pressed her for more details. The loss of her home, of the prison and her people was still fresh to her and he wasn't going to irritate those wounds.

Now he found himself wishing he had known just a bit more about what kind of guy he was and how the people were that she rolled with.

It was midday by the time anything of interest had happened inside the complex.

Up until that point, Amity had been idly observing the outside of the train car to the best of her ability.

She had been walking laps around the metal box, peering through rusted holes and taking note of any snipers on the rooftops and when the people who hovered nearby guarding them would change. She had collected a good amount of information before Maggie and Sasha had called her over and the redhead sat down with the other two women.

They talked about escaping, about what it would take to get past the crazy people who had trapped them in their metal hell. They talked plans and strategies, the others around them chiming in now and again but it seemed that the hopelessness of the situation had torn most of the fight from their friends.

Amity wasn't willing to call it quits though, not by a long shot.

She had just began to discuss a plan that involved her getting back out and getting close enough to Gareth to take him out with a belt buckle or her _teeth_ when they heard the sound of gunshots nearby.

Immediately, everyone in the train car was up and on their feet at the sound.

"Maybe they're under attack!" Tara said, the hope in her voice almost comical since she was talking about the downfall of the compound they were in- captive or not.

"Maybe they're attacking someone else." Rosita added, trying to touch on all options.

As the gunfire moved and seemed to be drawing closer and closer, Amity turned to Bandit with obvious question behind her eyes. She wanted to know his thoughts on what was happening.

"The gunfire is mostly in sporadic bursts now, and seems to be moving closer... I'd say they're corralling someone like they did to us." The Marine offered out and everyone in the train car fell silent.

A roundup meant more people- their people?

Once the gunfire was directly outside of where they were being held, Amity started to rush to one of the holes she had been looking through but the sound of heavy boots on the top of the train car had her pausing.

She could distantly hear the sound of Gareth yelling, but she couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Backs against the end of the train car!" A voice above them demanded and everyone inside complied, not willing to risk pushing their luck at such a high tension moment.

They all huddled near one far side of the car, away from the door as they usually did.

"My son!" The muffled voice of a man called out, sounding as if it was right in front of the door of the car and causing a couple of them to startle in response.

Bandit was right. It was a roundup and it seemed whoever they had found were being stored away with them.

Glenn moved over in front of Maggie at the closeness of the voice, ignoring the fact that they were supposed to be lined along the walls and Bandit did the same with Amity and the redhead couldn't help but roll her eyes at the overprotective males.

She had no doubts that her and Maggie could have them both on their asses in three seconds flat if they tried them.

Merle stalked towards the front of the group as well, his jaw tight as he eyed the entrance to the train car, obviously ready for a fight.

The screech of the door sounded harshly through the space as it was pulled open, a man stepping through with the light on his back.

The sudden brightness had Amity squinting against it, barely able to see around Bandit and Merle anyways, but she counted the sets of footsteps as the new group piled in.

1... 2... 3... and finally 4, a kid from what she could reason out due to the lightness of their stride.

The door was tugged shut once again and after a few blinks, Amity's eyes readjusted to the darkness.

Silence fell in between the groups, not that the newcomers were aware of their presence, that was, until Eugene moved back a step and the others whipped their faces towards them.

Glenn suddenly stepped forward, Maggie reaching out in an attempt to tug him back until he spoke.

"Rick?" He questioned, stepping into one of the few beams of light streaming into the dark car so that the newcomers could see him.

Amity's breath caught in her throat at the name, watching as Maggie moved up to her husband's side as well. She tried to move forward with the rest of her older group, following a step behind Bob and Sasha, but Bandit was still standing in front of her.

His wariness was expected, semi-appreciated, but not needed.

"You're here." Rick said, sounding emotional before repeating himself. "You're here."

His voice had Amity's hands trembling, the sound of her friend nearly too much for her and she realized that the child's footsteps must have been Carl's. After all, Rick had yelled about his son outside.

Their leader had apparently caught sight of Bandit, his eyes hardening a bit as Abraham and his people stepped up along with Tara.

"They're our friends. They helped save us." Maggie quickly explained before her eyes widened slightly and she turned back to look at Amity.

That look had the woman moving to push past Bandit, the Marine reluctant to let her do so until Merle growled out, "You better move, Jarhead. She ain't gonna like ya long if ya don't."

Ducking under one of Bandit's arms, Amity stumbled to the front of the group before stopping at Glenn's side, eyes wide as she took in everyone in front of her.

Her eyes pricked with tears when she spotted Carl, the young boy looking at her with wide eyes as well. She smiled softly at Michonne, then Rick who was looking at them all like he was seeing ghosts.

Her eyes landed lastly on the fourth of the group, her heart nearly stopping in her chest as she took in the bruised and battered man in front of her.

She couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

She held the blue-eyed gaze that floated in and out of her dreams, her breathing shaky as she took the time to just look at him and convince herself that he was real.

She had hunted for him for so long, and now it was him who had found her- typical really.

The train car was silent as the pair took one another in, waiting for a reaction and it was only Daryl stumbling forward towards her that broke the spell.

Amity moved as he did, wrapping herself around the hunter even as he fell to his knees with her in his strong arms.

The hunter felt like he couldn't breath until the moment she was pressed against him. He couldn't stop the tremble in his knees when she had stepped out from the crowd facing them in the train car.

Seeing Maggie and Glenn, seeing his _brother_ , that had been shocking enough, but when Amity came into view- he had to convince himself that one of the snipers hadn't blown his head off outside.

He had been talking to her since the prison had fallen, convinced that she was dead and gone until Beth instilled a bit of hope in him, but when the blonde disappeared she had taken all of that hope with her.

Amity gripped her hunter with a strength that she didn't know she possessed, only feeling half-bad when the hunter let out the lightest of groans, but held her just as firmly against his chest.

Burying her face in the curvature of his neck and shoulder, Amity didn't realize she was crying until the man's gentle shushing alerted her to the fact.

"I'm right here, girl. I'm here." Daryl muttered into her hair, his face hidden from those around them as he clung to the woman that he was certain he'd never see again.

They didn't need to see the emotion that was on his face or the wetness that was in his eyes. They didn't need to know that he felt like he was being slowly stitched together after a piece of his chest had been ripped out.

Now, Amity was _alive_.

She was in his arms and holding onto him like she needed him to breathe and he couldn't seem to let her go himself.

"I thought you were dead." He admitted, his voice so quiet that even Amity barely heard it as she clung to him.

She took in everything about the man she held. His voice, the warmth of his body against hers, his smell- _God_ , how she had missed his woodsy sweat-filled smell.

Pungent or not, she wouldn't trade it for anything in that moment.

Pulling back, a task with how tightly Daryl had her held in his arms, Amity looked up at the hunter with tears still sliding down her cheeks before he pressed his lips to hers. The public display surprised most everyone who knew the couple, but it didn't surprise Amity or Daryl.

"I'm here." She muttered against his lips, the words alone sending shivers through the hunter as he grappled with his own emotions.

They needed the closeness in that moment, the reassurance that everything that was happening was real, audience or not.

It had taken a while, longer than either of the two would admit in later recounts of their story, but eventually Amity moved from Daryl so that his brother could greet him as well.

Amity left the Dixons to it, knowing that they would do even worse in expressing their feelings if they had someone watching them, and instead greeted her other friends.

She wrapped Rick in a tight hug, the former sheriff's arms going tightly around her as she buried her face against his chest.

"Missed you, Cap." Amity muttered against him, pulling a chuckle from the man.

"Missed you too, Amity."

Releasing her after a moment, the redhead smiled up at her friend before glancing over at Daryl and back again.

"Thanks for taking care of him, though you're returning me some damaged goods." She joked, referencing the hunter's bruises.

She watched as Rick's face darkened a bit and she paused in her teasing, reaching out a hand to gently set on his bicep.

"He took care of us." Rick told her and Amity nodded, still watching her friend's expression closely.

"Being apart... a lot of shit happened. We're together now though. Things are going to be better now." She told him, smiling softly as he nodded before she went on to greet Carl, wrapping the younger boy up in a tight embrace.

"They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out." Rick said suddenly, his voice echoing slightly through the train car and gaining the attention of everyone within.

"Find out what?" Abraham asked, giving their leader an evaluating look.

"They're screwing with the wrong people."

* * *

Standing between the Dixon brothers, Amity worked on rubbing the buckle of her belt against the rough metal side of the train car, trying to do so as quietly as possible so that anyone outside of the car wouldn't be alerted to her activities.

She leaned slightly against Daryl as they worked, not speaking but craving his nearness after so long apart. Even with the heat of the train car, the hunter didn't complain and Amity recognized that he must have felt the same way.

Their reunion was short, it was sweet, but they didn't have time to simply revel in finding one another. They were still locked in a train car after all.

Locked, but not trapped.

That was something that Amity had decided the moment she heard Rick's voice.

It seemed that no matter how lost she became, their leader still instilled a bit of hope in her.

Now that they were back together, they could do damn near anything.

After they had all decided that they were going to fight back, they all got to work and stories were exchanged between them.

Amity had been caught up on the fact that no one had seen Tyreese nor Michael.

Abraham told the newer four about what happened when they came in and Bandit told Amity and his tale, pointedly ignoring the scrutinizing look that he was receiving from Daryl as he spoke.

Amity caught the look of guilt in Daryl's eyes when her being attacked was mentioned, though like Amity had when they first arrived in the train car, he spared the gory details. She reached out for the archer, gently squeezing his arm, but her reassurance seemed to have little effect.

She pressed her lips together, but decided it was a battle for later as Bandit continued their tale.

When the mention of Amity being taken out of the train car alone by Gareth had come up, both Rick and Daryl looked at the woman with a mix of curiosity and protective anger.

"Why?" Rick had asked and Amity shrugged her shoulders.

"He wanted to make a case, thought I'd buy into it, but apparently I'm not smart enough." She replied and Daryl scoffed.

"You're too damn smart if nothin' else." He stated and Amity smiled over at him.

"Doesn't change the fact that he has taken a liking to the woman. We could use it." Abraham chimed in and Daryl bristled almost immediately but it was Bandit that spoke up.

"She's not bait." He all but growled at the ginger man who shrugged his shoulders.

"You ask her?" He countered and suddenly all eyes had turned to Amity.

The woman was quiet as she looked between everyone, her eyes coming to rest on Daryl's and the man shook his head.

"Offer me up a good enough plan of action and I'll think about it." She said finally, causing Merle to snort.

"Of course you'd actually think about bein' bait, Princess." The eldest Dixon scoffed, shaking his head much like his brother had but with less conviction and more disbelief.

After that, they began to forge weapons under Rick's instruction and Amity was hardly surprised when Bandit fished a thin blade from the inside of his belt.

"I know you said you were a Major General, but I'm calling the fact you did magic part-time." Amity told the Marine who rolled his eyes at her though a smile pulled at one side of his mouth.

"Just call me Houdini." He replied, pressing the blade into her hand though she had tried to protest.

Nonetheless, the blade ended up stashed inside her belt like it had been in his and it was only then that she had joined the Dixons and started making another makeshift weapon as well.

There was no doubt in her mind that the members of Terminus were fucking with the wrong people.

"What happened to your wrists, girl?" Daryl asked after a heavy silence had settled in the train car, only broken up by the quiet sounds of everyone working.

The hunter had kept his voice low as he leaned down to her, his observant gaze flickering to her bandaged wrists before turning to her face.

"What happened to your face?" Amity asked in return, causing the man to press his lips together in response.

"It's a long story." Daryl told her and Amity nodded.

"Mine too." She said and it was the hunter's turn to nod.

"After?" He asked after a few more moments of silence, wanting to know the details of her injuries but understanding it might have to wait until they were free again.

"After." Amity confirmed, looking over to him and giving a small smile of reassurance.

They continued working until the sound of voices from outside of their train car could be heard. Daryl rushed to one of their lookout points, peering through the gap, his eyes squinted against the light as he watched the outside world.

"Alright, got five of them pricks coming our way." He informed the car before moving back to Amity and his brother.

"Y'all know what to do." Rick told everyone. "Go for their eyes first, then their throats."

As everyone got into position, Bandit crossed the train car to her. Daryl eyed the Marine as he approached but said nothing. As much as the guy made Daryl wary and awakened the green monster in his chest, he couldn't get pissy about having someone else willing to watch Amity's back.

"Put your backs to the walls on either side of the car now!" A voice yelled from outside of the car but no one in their group moved, instead staying poised for a fight.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed down from above them, the noise drawing their eyes upwards until a hatch was lifted away and light flooded into the space. A second later a canister was dropping down, clanging off the floor and before Amity really had time to comprehend what it was, Bandit was grabbing her arm and dragging her back and away from it.

"Move!" He and Abraham yelled at the same time, their group stumbling away from the canister just as it popped and let out a stream of gas that had them all coughing and hacking out their lungs.

Amity felt a body next to her stumble to the ground and she wanted to reach out for them but the swelling of her throat was sending her body into a useless panic.

Metal screeched as the main door to the car was pulled open and light cut through the foggy haze that enveloped the inside of the car. Through her teary eyes, the redhead saw a man with a gas mask enter, followed by a few more.

As the first man seemed to fixate on her, Amity tried her best to flee to the back of the car, her lungs protesting the movement which had her doubling over coughing as arms wrapped around her.

"No!" She croaked, struggling against the man's hold but it was no use.

"Daryl!" She tried to yell, seeing Bob being grabbed as well. "Bandit!"

The sounds of struggling were all around her, but it seemed to be of little use.

As she was carried down the front steps leading from the entrance of the train car, Amity's throat seemed to slowly loosen but it wasn't enough to catch her breath before she was being all but dragged across the asphalt towards one of the buildings. She heard struggling behind her and tried to turn, catching a glimpse of Rick on the ground with a man standing over him.

She wiggled against the guy pulling her along, landing a boot heavily against his thigh and making him hiss in pain before back-handing her so hard that it sent her reeling. Amity felt her captor grab a handful of her hair before her vision straightened itself out again, the man using the red locks grasped in his fist to keep her head still as he yanked cloth in between her teeth to gag her.

Despite the gag, Amity was cursing the guy as he kept her moving along.

Entering the warehouse, Amity's stomach rolled at the metallic stench of blood that seemed to permeate the air within. She heard the sound of a saw, flinching away from the noise even before she caught sight of what the tool was being used on and truly had to wrestle with herself not to vomit.

Luckily, she didn't have much in her stomach that could have come up.

She was pushed along until she was in front of a large metal trough and was forced on her knees. Even through her jeans, the concrete bit into her kneecaps.

She looked over at Bob who was already braced beside of the trough, his eyes wide as he looked at her.

The man who had been leading her knelt down to bind her hands, looking at her bandaged wrists for only a second before pulling the bonds around them tightly enough to make her whimper in pain.

As he stepped back, another body was forced down next to her other side and Amity turned her head to see it was Rick.

The former sheriff looked at her before struggling and trying to look at their captors, his voice pleading and muffled against the gag that was in his mouth as well. Amity knew he was asking them to let her go even with the anger he held in every line of his body.

Shaking her head, Amity attempted to shuffle on her knees. The knife hidden in her belt was all but useless to her at that point with her hands being bound behind her back, but she wanted to get a look at who was around. Amity's only saving grace was her ability to read people and she wanted to attempt to find their weak points, but instead she found her own.

Daryl was being forced into the room with Glenn just a few steps behind him. At the sight of the hunter, bound and gagged, Amity strained against the binds on her wrists, ignoring the biting pain of her wounds as she did so.

The man leading Daryl shoved him forward a step, causing the hunter to stumble a bit, but as he did so he spotted Amity. His blue eyes were wide with horror then anger as he suddenly stopped and shoved his broad shoulder against his captor's chest, sending the man to the ground. He yelled out something from behind his gag, darting forward towards Amity but was stopped by two of the men in the warehouse who quickly wrestled with him, getting him over to the trough and pushing him down next to Rick.

Glenn joined the lineup on the other side of Daryl, thankfully the last from their group though there were four more men added to the line.

Amity leaned forward against the side of the trough, her breathing rough and heavy as she tried to fight against the panic that was overcoming her as two men strode along behind her, the group that dragged them in leaving the warehouse.

She already had a solid idea about what was going to happen and her eyes sought Daryl's, wanting nothing more than to see the man she loved, the man she had just found again, before she was killed.

Daryl held her gaze once she turned to him. He kept his eyes locked on hers even as the dull thud of a metal bat against a human skull sounded from behind him. He watched her eyes widen, her gaze darting off to look beyond him as a sickly slicing noise reached his ears seconds before the splattering of thick liquid against metal.

Amity's heart was pounding in her chest, threatening to force its way out as the men went down the line, knocking out the survivors that were strangers to her and slitting their throats in order to bleed them dry.

She felt Rick shift beside her, the leader barely holding in the rage and panic that she knew he had to be feeling- they were all feeling that way.

The last stranger was knocked out and then the man with the bat was standing behind Glenn.

Amity couldn't see her friend's face, she couldn't reach out to him or even speak to him. There was no providing comfort or protection and her struggling got her nowhere until the door a few paces in front of them opened and Gareth stepped through.

"Hey, guys. What were your shot counts?" Gareth asked the men behind them, not even looking up from his notebook as he did so.

"38." One of them answered and Gareth nodded, writing something down and waiting a second before looking up at the two men, not sparing a glance towards the people his group were slaughtering like cattle.

"Hey! Your shot count?" He asked again.

"Crap, man, I'm sorry. It was my first roundup." One of the men replied, making Gareth sigh.

"After you're done here, go back to your point and count the shells. Kaylee won't be gathering them until tomorrow." He directed.

From beside of her, Amity heard Bob speaking against his gag. His words were barely able to be made out, but Amity knew he was requesting to talk.

The sound of one of them talking finally had Gareth looking at them, noting the four dead and then the line of people from their car.

"Amity." He said once his eyes landed on her, taking in the sight of her next to the blood-filled trough before looking sharply to the men standing behind them.

"Four from D, _five_ from A?" He asked, his voice holding an edge.

"Yeah." One of his group confirmed.

"I thought I said four from A. I _know_ I said to leave the redhead alone." Gareth snapped, his words surprising Amity and her group members alike.

"W-we didn't collect them, man." One of the men tried to defend.

Looking at Amity once more, Gareth let out a sigh like he was witnessing a major disappointment in his life.

"If there was ever a time to rethink my offer, Amity. It would be now." He told her, his words making Amity narrow her eyes at him, struggling against her bonds as she cursed up a storm from behind her gag.

Gareth watched her for a moment before shaking his head.

"Pity." He commented, snapping his notebook shut and moving to leave but Bob was not giving up on talking to him it seemed.

"Hey, let me talk to you for a minute. Let me talk to you for a minute." He called out from behind his gag.

Apparently deciding to hear him out, Gareth moved over to the end of the trough and knelt down in front of Bob before tugging his gag from his mouth.

"Let me talk to you for a minute." Bob said, his words clear now.

"What?" Gareth asked as if he was patronizing a small child.

"Don't do this. We can fix this." Bob pleaded.

"No, you can't." Gareth stated simply.

"You don't have to do this. We told you there's a way out of all this. You just have to take a chance." Bob tried. "We have a man who knows how to stop it. He has a cure. We just have to get him to Washington. You don't have to do this, man! We can put the world back to how it was."

"Can't go back, Bob." Gareth said, reaching out to put the gag back in his mouth.

"We can! Amity is a cure! There's a chance!" He insisted, making the redhead in question look at him with wide eyes.

At that revelation, Gareth paused and it seemed that Bob just realized what he had said.

"What do you mean she is a cure?" Gareth asked, his voice curious.

Bob looked to Amity with apology in his eyes, realizing now that there was a difference between someone _having_ a cure and someone _being_ a cure and that that difference could bode poorly for the redhead.

"She _has_ a cure. She was a neuropsychologist." Bob attempted to remedy.

It felt like everyone in their line was holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen now.

"I'm well aware of her past profession." Gareth told him, sounding as if it should have been obvious that he knew. He said it like himself and Amity had been close to one another for years or something. "But you said she _is_ a cure, not that she had one."

"I-I meant _has_. She knows the cure." Bob lied, but Gareth wasn't buying it.

Leaning forward, he stuffed the gag back into Bob's mouth before moving over to be in front of Amity, reaching across the trough to tug her gag free.

"Amity, what's this that Bob was telling me about you being a cure?" He asked the woman as if she hadn't been present for the entire exchange.

The redhead pressed her lips together, glaring at the man with the most venom she could muster.

Sensing that she wasn't going to answer him, Gareth began to inspect the woman more closely, his eyes roving over her face before following the line of her throat, searching the expanse of her skin as if it would hold the answer to his question, and unfortunately, it did.

The man's eyebrows suddenly rose towards his hairline and he abruptly leaned forward, his hand reaching out towards the redhead's chest. Amity attempted to scuffle back from his touch, Daryl causing a ruckus from between Rick and Glenn but Gareth ignored both of their struggles.

The man hooked two fingers under the strap of Amity's tanktop and sports bra, pulling them aside to reveal the bite mark that he had spotted peeking out from beneath the cloth. He looked at it with wide eyes, his fingers grazing over the hard raised flesh and sending a shiver of disgust down the woman's spine.

"I knew you were something special the moment I saw you." Gareth told her, his voice low as if they were sharing an intimate moment alone rather than in a slaughterhouse with a trough of human blood between them. "I could have never guessed this."

Seeming to pull himself out of his small moment of reverie, Gareth locked his dead eyes onto Amity's before pushing himself back to his feet.

"Attend to her first, I need to talk to Mary about eating raw meat." He said, looking to the two men behind them and Amity felt her heart drop to her knees.

The sound of the two men's footsteps moved towards Amity and the feeling of their presence behind them had her struggling against her bonds.

"Gareth, wait-" Amity spoke finally, projecting over the sound of Daryl struggling and calling out from down the line.

Gareth ignored the woman, turning his eyes onto Daryl and looking at him with curiosity as one of the Terminus members shoved her gag back into her mouth.

"The women always taste the best." Gareth told him as if they were talking about the best flavor of ice cream. "I know for a fact that she'll be _delicious_."

With that being said, Gareth obviously taking joy in seeing the terror and pain he could induce, the man looked to Rick and gestured for his gag to be taken out of his mouth.

"We saw you go into the woods with a bag and come out without it." Gareth told the leader. "Had to pull my spotters back before we could go look for it. What was in it?"

There was no response from the former sheriff and Gareth decided to continue.

"You hid it, right? In case things went bad?" He asked before nodding once to himself. "Smart. Still, we'll find it. But it's too dangerous to go out there right now."

Without another word, Gareth was pulling his knife from his belt and reaching forward to grab Amity. His forearm rested across her shoulder as his hand roughly gripped the back of her neck. A noise of surprise escaped the woman as she felt the lip of the trough bite into her ribcage.

"What was in it?" Gareth asked Rick, the tip of his knife resting just in front of Amity's face. "I'm curious and it was a big bag."

Rick still said nothing and Gareth seemed tired of the conversation.

"You really gonna let me do this?" He wondered.

"Well, let me take you out there." Rick replied finally. "I'll show you."

"Not gonna happen." Gareth said with a shake of his head, moving the tip of the knife closer to Amity's eye. "This might. I've admired these pretty blues since she came in, wouldn't mind keeping one."

If Amity could have spat at the man holding her, she would have in that moment.

"There's guns in it." Rick answered.

"AK-47, .44 Magnum. Automatic weapons, nightscope. There's a compound bow and a machete with a red handle." He listed off before his gaze zeroed in on Gareth. "That's what I'm gonna use to kill you."

His words didn't seem to have the desired effect on the man who Amity was sure was dead inside.

Gareth simply chuckled and replaced the gag in Rick's mouth, moving to push himself to his feet before he paused and looked to Amity, reaching out to brush his fingertips over her scarred cheek even as she tried to flinch away.

"You're going to save a lot of people, Amity." He told her before fully standing up and backing away from the group.

"You have two hours to get them on the driers, put her on ice in here. I'm going to go back to public face. Now's the time that we can get messy but we need to dial it all in before sundown." Gareth told his group members.

"Got it."

Yes sir."

It was only then that the sick son of a bitch turned and started to head towards the door he came in through but the sound of gunshots from outside had him stopping, pulling a walkie from his belt.

Amity's eyes were on him, but as the man behind her brought his bat back, she caught sight of the motion in the shiny metal of the trough. She clenched her teeth, readying herself for the hard hit, but another gunshot made the man stop his actions.

The sound had them all looking around the space, as if expecting the gun welder to come through the door and announce what was going on themselves.

Amity barely had time to consider what could be happening before an explosion went off nearby, the sheer force of the blast sending tremors through the warehouse and causing them to stumble and fall over before quickly trying to scramble to their feet.

"Hey, what the hell was that? Do you copy?" A voice crackled over the radio at Gareth's waistband as Amity struggled to right herself, having been tossed onto her back due to the blast.

Her hands were trapped under her, her wrists twisting painfully as she wiggled her way onto her side then up onto her butt again.

"You stay here!" Gareth was saying as he headed towards the door, his voice sharp.

"Gareth, these guys aren't going anywhere-" One of the men tried to protest.

"Stay here until I know what's happening!" Gareth snapped out one last demand and then he was gone.

"So we just sit here?" One of the men, seemingly newer than the other, asked his companion.

"Got a job to do." The man with the bat replied.

A few minutes passed with tense silence, the newer of the Terminus members stalking about the room as Amity exchanged looks with the men at her side.

They were getting out of there, the gunfire and explosion was the perfect distraction for their escape.

"You there, Gareth?" The timid man asked into his radio.

"He's _busy_." The batter cut in, sounding exasperated.

Rick continued to work at the bindings on his wrists, using a sharp piece of wood that he had whittled from the train car earlier to hack at them. Amity would have given anything to be able to reach her knife and turning to Bob, she gestured pointedly to her belt with her eyes.

The man seemed to gather her hint and turned slightly so that his bound hands were around the right area. She shifted downwards a bit so he was fumbling at the clasp, his fingers ghosting over the blade as he struggled to grasp it.

"You smell the smoke? You hear the shots? He could be dead. The hell we doing here? The whole place could be going up." The timid man was lamenting to his companion as Bob finally tugged the blade half-free.

"You went on one roundup and you blew protocol. We don't deal with security. That ain't our job, this is." The batter explained, obviously trying to get his friend to keep his cool.

"Hey, look at me." The batter requested, just as Rick's restraints snapped and he shifted onto his feet.

"What?" The other man asked, turning to his friend in time to see Rick stab him as Bob palmed Bandit's blade and quickly sliced through his own restraints.

"No, no, no, no, no!" The timid man was screaming as Rick stabbed him, quickly ending their captors' lives as Bob cut Amity free as well.

"Rick!" Glenn called out to their leader and the former sheriff quickly freed the Asian man while Amity reclaimed Bandit's blade from Bob and cut away Daryl's bindings as well.

The hunter was on his feet in seconds flat, tugging Amity close to him as he pressed a hurried kiss against her temple and forehead to reassure himself that she was okay. The couple looked to Rick for their next move, both holding their leader's gaze to let him know that they were all in.

It was time to end this and get the hell out of the horror story that Terminus had turned out to be.

"If they got problems, we got a chance." Rick told them, pointing out a table nearby.

"It sounded like a bomb." Glenn said.

"Sounds like a damn war." Daryl added, tugging Amity along to the table Rick showed them that turned out to be laden down with tools. He grabbed a large knife while Amity took a tool that was fairly similar to the machete she usually wielded.

"Right there." Rick directed them as they looked at the body.

"What the hell are these people?" Bob asked as he followed suit.

"They're not people." Amity stated firmly, readjusting her grip on new weapon and turning to the body that was on the table, ready to cleave it's skull in half but Rick stopped her.

"Don't. Let him turn." He directed.

Amity backed off slowly, looking at her friend with hardness behind her eyes before she nodded and they left the main room in a hurry.

The redhead fell into step behind Daryl, their footsteps matching up perfectly despite her small stride as she had become so used to moving along with the man. They had become partners in more ways than just romantically or sexually while at the prison and their time apart hadn't changed that.

Coming across another room, Amity followed Rick and Daryl into it with Bob and Glenn trailing behind them. She took one look at the limbless torsos hanging from large meathooks attached to the ceiling and quickly averted her eyes.

She was already well aware of what the people of Terminus did. She didn't need to see those gory things to remind her.

"Cross any of these people, you kill them." Rick said, his voice echoing after the silence of the room. "Don't hesitate. They won't."

They collected other various weapons from the room, before moving to the side door of the building.

There were walkers surrounding a few shipping crates, the yells from within them letting Amity know that there were live people inside. It had only taken a few words from Glenn, the young man acting as the moralistic side of their group as he so often did, and Amity backing him up to convince Rick that they had to help the trapped people out.

Stepping outside, it was as if they had truly stepped into a war zone like Daryl had said.

Without hesitation, Amity lunged forward to take out a couple of walkers that surrounded the box. Their small force stayed in a tight formation out of habit, letting them easily take out the walkers that were an immediate threat before Glenn yanked open the entrance of the shipping crate.

"We're the same!" A man yelled as he burst out of the container, shoving Glenn backwards before launching himself at Rick.

"We're them!" He declared.

It was obvious to Amity that his time in the shipping container, or perhaps even before, had done a number on the poor man's state of mind.

"Back off!" Rick told him, shoving him away as the man cackled madly.

"We're the same!" He began again and Amity had only a second's warning before a walker appeared next to him.

She lunged forward, weapon raised to take out the walker who had already tore into the crazed man, but there was nothing else to be done about it.

Glenn didn't let go so easily though. Her friend slammed the bat he had taken from their earlier captor's corpse into the walker twice for good measure, but his actions almost had him spotted by another wave of the undead if it hadn't been for Daryl tugging him back by his shirt.

They all pressed themselves along the front of the shipping container, trying to spot a route towards the train car that they came from, where the rest of their people resided.

"We got to double back." Bob said, peering around the side of the container.

"A is that way. We go back, we don't know where we are." Rick pointed out.

"We don't really have a choice, do we?" Daryl countered, the sounds of gunfire and the walkers nearly drowning them out.

Amity bounced on the balls of her feet, her machete white-knuckled in her grip as she waited for a directive on what their next move was.

Gunshots sounded from closer by than before, a number of the walkers wandering past dropping, and that seemed to mean something to Rick as he moved past them all towards the fray.

"Wait here." He told them all.

"Rick." Amity hissed, her tone warning but he didn't stop.

"Rick!" Bob whisper yelled after him.

Their leader quickly crept his way over to an abandoned car, crouching down beside of it as he seemed to observe something. As he focused, a walker seemed to spot him and stumble over his way but Daryl moved forward after his friend, and before she knew it, Amity was having an AK pressed into her hands.

"We're going to have to double back." Rick informed them as he handed a pistol to Bob and Amity nearly laughed.

Pressing their way towards train car A, mostly led by Amity's memory of the path thanks to her stroll with Gareth, the five of them wasted no time with blasting through the undead until Rick was pulling back the door of train car A.

"Come on! Fight to the fence!" Rick roared as their people poured out of the train car.

"Go, go, go!" Amity yelled, mentally counting off everyone around them as they began to throw themselves into the fray. She was thankful for the ability of her family in that moment- they were all hardened, lean, mean walker-killing machines by this point, save for Eugene it seemed.

Amity helped cover their asses with Rick, both of them shooting down the giant group of undead that were nipping at their heels as Maggie, Rosita, Abraham, and Glenn opened a path ahead of them. The rest covered either side of their group, making sure that they weren't going to be side-swiped as they pressed forward to the fences.

"Up and over." Rosita yelled upon reaching one stretch of chain-link, jabbing her blade through the rungs to drop a walker.

Amity stood at Rick's side as their group climbed out over the fences, helping to keep the walkers at bay until she spotted Gareth and a couple others on the rooftop.

Without hesitation, both her and Rick turned their sights on the group until they were falling back away from them and they had no choice but to follow their group up and over the fences.

Rick boosted Amity over the top, the woman struggling a bit before dropping down on the other side with the former sheriff, followed close by Abraham who had been waiting for them to get to safety before joining them.

Jogging along with the group until they were deeper in the forest and away from Terminus, Amity felt such a relief with finally being free that it had her head spinning.

She noticed Bandit looking at her carefully, concern behind his gaze and offered him a smile before gently bumping her shoulder against his.

"I knew it would all work out." Amity told the Marine who shook his head at her, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"You've lost it." Bandit told her simply.

"Never claimed to have it, Big Guy." She quipped back before the group came to a stop and Rick suddenly started to dig into the forest floor.

"The hell are we still around here for?" Abraham asked, seemingly voicing the thoughts of everyone outside of Rick, Daryl, Michonne, and Carl.

"Guns, some supplies." Rick explained, and Amity realized that that must have been where they hid the bag that Gareth had mentioned.

"Go along the fences. Use the rifles. Take out the rest of 'em." The leader continued to explain his train of thought.

"What?" Bob asked in disbelief.

"They don't get to live." Rick stated darkly.

"That's not anyone's decision to make." Amity spoke up, her brows furrowing as she looked at her friend.

"Rick, we got out. It's over." Glenn added to Amity's case.

"It's not over till they're all dead." Rick reasoned.

"The hell it isn't. That place is on fire, full of walkers." Rosita stated.

"I'm not dicking around with this crap." Abraham cut in. "We just made it out."

"The fences are down. They'll run or die." Maggie added.

Amity's eyes were on nothing but her friend and leader as she searched through her mind for the words that would convince him that pursuing the rest of Terminus was ridiculous.

The only thing that pulled her attention away was Daryl who was suddenly rushing from his place at her side, making her look towards him with confusion before her eyes widened at the sight of two people approaching them.

Daryl scooped the smaller of the two up into a hug, easily lifting her off of her feet as Amity stared wide-eyed at the other.

"You better hug your big brother. I spent too damn long lookin' for your ass again." Michael said as he took in the sight of his battered, bloody, and dirty little sister.

Amity let out a laugh that may have been closer to a sob at the man's words before she was moving, running full force at the eldest Walker without bothering to slow her pace before she slammed into him, wrapping both her arms and legs around him much like she had when he first arrived on the farm.

Their reunion was different this time nonetheless.

Before, Amity had accepted the loss of her old life entirely, but with Michael having re-entered it in the new walker-filled world, she felt his loss so sharply after the prison fell that if she hadn't gripped so tightly onto the never-wavering hope of finding her family, she would have fallen apart.

She clung to her brother like a koala bear as the rest of their group began to fill in the space around them, greeting the pair as well with large smiles.

Amity climbed down from her brother's arms after the man told her that he 'wasn't as young as he used to be' and watched Rick approach Carol.

She felt the tension from her brother, but soothed the large man with a hand against his arm.

"Did y'all do that?" He asked, his eyes solely on Carol who nodded, her lip quivering before Rick wrapped her in a tight hug and she let out a watery laugh.

"You have to come with me." Carol told him after she had pulled away.

Amity looked over to her brother who smiled softly, nodding his head in agreement with the woman's words and before she knew it, they were walking through the trees once more.

Amity clung to her brother's hand, wrapping her arms around one of his as they went, all the while keeping her eyes on Daryl's broad shoulders in front of them where he walked with Carol.

She was in a state of awe over finding the pair of them even before they approached a small shack and spotted Tyreese standing on the front porch, a baby held in his arms.

In the next second, Rick and Carl were rushing towards the building with Sasha just at their heels.

The two families reunited as the larger family, the one that held everyone from the prison and their new friends, stood watching with gentle smiles on their faces.

Amity grasped Daryl's hand in her own, the other still wrapped around her brother's arm. She shared a look with Merle, the man not making a snide comment about the tears in her eyes for once as he nodded at her, and she finally felt like everything was back the way it was supposed to be.

Everyone took a moment to regain their bearings after such an emotional couple of days. Michael pulled away from Amity to share a few words with Tyreese and Carol, and Bandit took his place at the other side of Amity. After lingering a moment longer, Daryl moved away from them to head towards Merle and Bob.

"So that's your brother?" Bandit asked, looking at the large man with his cowboy hat still in place on top of his head as he leaned in to talk with Carol and Tyreese.

"We don't look much alike, huh?" Amity replied with a small chuckle as she looked at the Marine.

"Not a damn bit. You're the size of one of his arms, Bambi." He informed her, pulling another laugh from the woman.

Her laughter fell off as she felt a nudge against her arm and turned to look at Daryl who had returned to her side.

The hunter glanced at Bandit, but didn't say anything to the man as he held out something towards Amity.

Looking over the item in his hands, Amity brightened considerably as she took it from him.

"Where the hell did you get this from?" She asked, looking over the arms of the compound bow that he had handed her to check for any cracks in the carbon fiber.

She vaguely remembered Rick listing it off as one of the weapons in the duffel bag, but she hadn't really comprehended the mention of it in that terrifying moment with a knife pointed at her eye.

"A guy I rolled with for a while. He don't need it anymore." Daryl told her, and Amity sought out his eyes.

She read the exhaustion behind them as well as the guilt and bit of self-disgust and she wondered if right then was the 'later' they had mentioned before.

"Thank you." She told him softly and Daryl nodded in return, shouldering his crossbow that Carol had shown up carrying.

"Ain't nothin'. The draw might be a bit heavy for ya, but you'll get used to it." He told her, his words a bit shy and Amity couldn't resist stepping forward and pressing her lips to his cheek, resting her forehead against his collarbone for a minute.

She didn't catch the light flush of the youngest Dixon's cheeks, or the way Bandit stepped back to give the pair their moment though he had eyed Daryl with a bit of interest during their exchange since she was just enjoying the nearness of the man she loved.

Pulling back after a moment, Amity looked up at Daryl and smiled softly, moving to speak but Rick's voice cut over her.

"I don't know if the fire is still burning." Th leader commented, looking towards Terminus.

"It is." Carol replied.

"Yeah, we need to go." Rick confirmed.

"Yeah, but where?" Daryl asked, taking a step towards his friend, Amity following along at his side.

"Somewhere far away from there." Rick replied.

It seemed that that was all the group needed to start moving. Amity gathered what little things she had, her arms readjusting to the heavy weight of the bow in her hands as they started back towards the train tracks.

The tracks made Amity's skin crawl now, but at least they knew what it was that Terminus had to offer them. At least the damned place had inadvertently brought them all back together.

They passed one of the Terminus signs, Rick stopping next to it before covering a cloth in mud and Amity knew what he was going to do so she left him to it as she walked with her family- Daryl and Michael at her side with Carol and Merle a bit ahead of them, Maggie and Glenn behind them with the rest.

She was surrounded by the people she loved, and as Rick rejoined them after covering the false promise that Terminus had offered, Amity felt like things were going to be okay.

* * *

 **And there you have it!**

 **Finally everyone is back together and have now made it out of the hellhole that was Terminus!**

 **Stay tuned to see what the future holds for our little family- and don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts on this chapter, and the entire story, thus far!**


	40. Chapter 40

When the group stopped for the evening, Amity realized that their little family had expanded wider than she had ever imagined.

At the prison, it wasn't odd to think that there were so many of them since they had walls, fences, and a stable environment, but now that they were back to living as nomads- nineteen people was a miracle to keep together when constantly on the move.

Despite the fact that their larger group would hold the chance of drawing more negative attention to them than they would want, Amity couldn't help but be proud of it.

Every single one of them were survivors.

They had fought long and hard to keep their lives and to reunite with one another and the size of their group showed as much.

"Eat, girl." Daryl's gruff voice startled Amity out of her consideration of those around her.

She had been staring at the newer members of their group under the flickering light that their low fire provided and now that she was pulled from her mind, she realized that perhaps it had been a bit unnerving for a few of them.

She watched as Tara pointedly avoided her eyes, looking towards Glenn who was sat with Maggie nearby. Abraham was watching Amity as she watched him, the look on his face having her tilt her head slightly as she met his eyes.

She didn't understand the challenge behind the redhead's gaze, but she wasn't intimidated by him.

She refused to be intimidated by anyone anymore.

She had been pushed around enough.

"Amity-" Daryl said in another attempt to regain Amity's attention.

Turning to the man, Amity offered him a small smile of apology and watched as his ever-observant eyes flickered between her and Abraham.

Instead of giving him the chance to question something she didn't know the answer to herself, Amity reached out to take the chunk of meat that Daryl had been offering out to her wrapped in one of the cleaner bandanas that he carried around.

"Thanks, Chief." Amity told him as she tore off a bit of the meat with her fingertips and popped it into her mouth, her eyes being drawn slowly to the dancing flames of the fire, but as the hunter shifted next to her, Amity looked to him again.

"It's later, isn't it?" She asked, catching the look he was giving her.

After a confirming grunt from the man, Amity sighed softly, considering handing off the food he had just given her since her appetite had flown right out the window with the thought of recounting the situation that had given her the need to bandage her wrists as they were. The only thing that kept her from doing so was the fit that she knew anyone in the majority of the group would throw if they noticed her not eating, Daryl and Michael especially.

"Alright... I just don't know where to start..." She admitted, her voice soft even in the quiet of the evening.

"Ya climbed a damn tank." Daryl supplied helpfully, his lips twitching as Amity let out a huff of surprised laughter at his recollection of that small detail of the attack on the prison.

"That I did." She replied, shaking her head. "I'm not sure what I thought that was going to accomplish, but..."

Trailing off again, Amity took a few long breaths and was thankful for Daryl's quiet nature as she collected her thoughts.

"I fell, got knocked out." She began, starting her recount of everything that had happened from the moment she woke up alone.

She saw Daryl's face twist when she told him that she had been on the ground in the prison yard the entire time that everyone else was leaving. She saw the guilt in his expression but reached out to take his hand in her's, knowing that the dim light of the fire wasn't enough to take away the semi-privacy of their conversation.

"Everyone had to get out, Dixon. You had to get out and you took Beth with you. You did the right thing." She told him firmly, and as Daryl went to open his mouth, Amity cut across whatever he was going to say in order to continue her tale.

She told him about passing out in the woods, about walking and walking until she found a building. The hunter actually let out a gruff laugh that had Amity's heart warming in her chest when she recounted the fact that the building was a strip club and was indeed named 'Cherry's.'

She continued on to leaving the next morning and finding a car shop, but then she found herself at a loss for words.

Forgetting that Daryl's large rough hand was still around her own, Amity nearly jumped when the hunter gave it a gentle squeeze, but that and the steadiness of his gaze lent her the strength to continue.

"I was trying to break into the office, but I didn't want to smash the glass and ruin the safety that the front door and windows could provide, you know?" Amity began again. "I was trying to kick in the door leading from the garage part to the office when a guy got the drop on me. I turned and he was just... there. I didn't hear him or anything- I was too focused on the fucking door."

Her lips twisted into a scowl as she thought about her idiocy and how if she had just been paying a bit more attention then maybe Kipp and his men would have never been able to catch her in the first place.

Daryl was tense next to her, and for a moment, Amity considered making Merle and Michael join the party to hear her story so she wouldn't have to repeat it later, but she decided that Daryl was the only one who was going to get the whole story anyways instead of the abridged version.

"I tried to talk my way out but then he called his group... there was six of them in total, all men, all obviously cut out for this world now. I was cornered and they knocked me out. I'm honestly surprised that I don't have any obvious brain damage after being knocked out so much." Amity said, shaking her head a bit. "I woke up and I was tied up with some wires to a car. That's what tore my wrists up."

She looked to her dirty and rumpled bandages that sat beneath her and Daryl's intertwined hands.

"They left me alone for a while, but it was all just fucking mind games. It all led to what I knew it would from the second they surrounded me." Amity nearly spat, her eyes still trained on her bandages. "The leader was a scary fucker, just gave the word and... I kicked, a-and I screamed, and I tried to get away, but I couldn't _move_."

The burning behind Amity's eyes grew and she found herself blinking rapidly a few times, refusing to let any moisture fall and avoiding Daryl's gaze that she could feel burning into her.

"I was so helpless... but then Bandit showed up." She continued her story, a half smile tugging at her lips at the mention of her rescuer. "He just came in and took them all out, scared the shit out of me, but he saved me before anything... before it got too far. I wasn't sure about him at first but he came over and cut me loose and just helped me. I don't know why, but I just knew that he was good. That he was like the people we were, you know?"

It was only then that Amity looked up to Daryl and found that she couldn't read what laid behind the hunter's eyes, something that frustrated her to no end when it happened, no matter how rare of an occurrence it had become with how much closer they had gotten.

"I told him I was trying to find you guys, he showed me a Terminus sign, and for some reason, he decided he wanted to keep helping me. I wouldn't have made it back to you guys without him. I-I wouldn't have made it out of that damned mechanic shop without him if I'm honest- at least not the same as I am now." She said softly.

As much as Daryl found that he appreciated everything Bandit had done to help both Amity and the rest of them, he couldn't help but hate the fact that he wasn't the one there with her.

He hadn't been there when she needed him- he never was. He wasn't there when she got bit, either of the times she had been shot, when she was lying in the prison yard and waking up alone, or when she was attacked by some twisted fucks. There was no one in the world, in this life or the next, that he wanted to take care of more than Amity Walker and he found that he couldn't do that.

He was a piss poor excuse of a man. His woman had needed him, had been so terrified- even if she didn't say as much, he could see it behind her eyes as she talked about what had happened- but he hadn't been there to protect her. He couldn't even offer her the comfort that he so desperately wanted to because he was convinced that she wouldn't want him to touch her.

He didn't deserve to.

"Daryl." Amity said softly, for the third time, and it was that time that the archer seemed to finally hear her.

A bit of focus came into his eyes and Amity glanced around them, checking that no one was watching them more for Daryl's sake than her own as the hand that wasn't held in his rose to cup his cheek, his scruff rough and scratchy beneath her palm.

"Stop it." She demanded, confusing the man.

"What?"

"You're blaming yourself- or you're kicking yourself over some shit that wasn't your fault. We were all separated, Dixon. Blown to the seven winds, but you did what you needed to do. You took care of yourself and Beth and you _found me_." She reminded him, but he didn't seem convinced.

"Beth- she's just gone, and you... you were there the whole damn time. If I'd've stayed and looked longer for ya-" Daryl said, but Amity cut him off with a shake of her head.

"There was nothing you could have done. I was surrounded by walkers. There's no sense in beating yourself up over shit that's already passed." She tried to tell him, but the hunter avoided her eyes.

He pulled back from her touch, something that had a small frown on her lips as he pushed himself to his feet and dropped her hand.

"I got the next watch shift." He mumbled as an explaination and though Amity knew that to be true, she didn't think that was the reason he was leaving her side so abruptly. "Eat, woman, then get some sleep."

Holding back a sigh and a demand that he sit back down and talk to her until he realized that nothing about what had happened to her had anything to do with him, Amity instead offered him a teasing salute.

"Aye aye, captain. I'll lick my plate clean if you promise to be back after your shift to be my space heater." Amity bargained, looking up at him and watching him struggle with himself for a second.

He pulled his gaze from his boots to her eyes, and that seemed to do the trick because he was nodding in the next second.

"'Course I'll be back. It's my damn sleeping spot." He grumbled, referring to the softer patch of dirt a little ways from the fire that he had claimed earlier.

"You can think whatever makes you feel better, Slick." Amity teased, thankful that though she knew they hadn't seen the last of the painful emotions that surrounded their time apart, at least he wasn't completely shutting himself off from her.

"Eat, Amity." Daryl said in return and the woman took a pointed bite before pushing gently on his jean-clad thigh.

"Go on then. Go take watch, but you still have to tell me about your time before now- don't think I forgot." Amity told him, a bit more serious near the end.

A grunt, that was maybe a confirmation, was what Amity got in return before the hunter was moving away towards Rick, and Amity was left to finish off her dinner alone, her eyes already feeling heavy as she chewed the last few bites.

* * *

The next morning, the group was up and moving earlier than Amity would have liked after waking up snuggled so nicely into Daryl's side.

It was obvious once everyone else was moving that the hunter was yearning to get up and be involved as well, but he was hesitant to wake Amity. She appreciated it, but it didn't make it any easier to move once she finally had woken up to the sound of Maggie's voice calling over to Glenn for something.

"I didn't miss Morning Maggie." Amity grumbled as she stood with Bob's assistance, Daryl having took off to help get everyone moving as soon as she had sat up after wishing him a good morning.

"At least you got away from it for a bit." Bob told her, laughing lightly and it was then that Amity remembered there was a Morning Bob as well.

Though waking up early wasn't typically hard for Amity, it wasn't something she was ever weirdly happy about like some in their group seemed to be.

Not much later, the group was on the move and the Dixons had disappeared into the woods to go hunt.

Walking next to Bandit, Amity let her mind wander a bit though her head was on a near constant swivel.

"What are you thinking so hard about, Bambi?" Bandit asked from next to her, gaining the redhead's attention.

Shrugging her shoulders, Amity let her new bow relax at her side a bit as they walked. The new one was a hell of a lot heavier than her other had been.

"A bit of everything." She admitted and the Marine nodded.

"You buy what that guy's selling?" He asked, nodding towards Eugene.

Bandit had caught Amity up on what little information Eugene had offered to the rest of the group about how and what exactly he knew about a cure when they were trapped in the train car during the time that Amity was trying to get back to them with Daryl, Rick, Glenn, and Bob.

"They started off saying that it was like a cure, but now it's just something to kill the walkers. 'Flip the script,' right?" Amity said, repeating Eugene's own words according to Bandit who was a stickler for accuracy when he reported anything. "I don't know."

Pursing her lips, Amity thought over Eugene's words for the hundredth time.

"I suppose the fact that it was a weaponized microbe would make sense. It reminds me of rabies in a way. The disease drives animals, and humans, to be more aggressive which, in turn, leads to the microbe being more likely to spread since the chance of someone being bit by a more-aggressive creature is higher than being bit by a less-aggressive one." She explained while Bandit nodded.

"But something about the whole story behind it... and, if I'm honest, about the way Eugene just looks at everyone, makes me doubt it all." Amity admitted, dropping her voice a bit more in order to make sure the conversation stayed between her and Bandit alone.

"Merle doesn't buy it and I don't think I do either." Bandit replied, tapping the knife she had returned to him against the metal of his belt buckle as he thought everything over. "And if you're unsure about it, then that just furthers my thinking that its a load of bull shit."

Shrugging her shoulders, Amity tugged on the end of the messy braid that she had tamed her hair into. She didn't quite know what to make of much of anything nowadays and the complete faith that Bandit seemed to have in her was slightly unnerving.

She wanted to be deserving of it, but she wasn't sure that she was.

The nearby rustling of leaves across the forest floor had the entirety of the group turning as one to train their various weapons in the direction of the sound. They stood tense until Daryl waltzed out from the thicket, his hands raising at the sight of the weapons which showed off the string of woodland creatures that he had found for them to munch on later.

"We surrender." He drawled out, making Amity snort softly just as Merle waltzed out of the thicket behind him.

"Jumpy, huh?" Merle commented, adjusting the rifle that rested against his shoulder as he rejoined the group.

Daryl's eyes found Amity as if to reassure himself that she was still safe and with the group before he nodded to her and went to join Rick at the front of their posse. They moved for a while longer with Rick whistling at them to stick close.

She knew that he must have had the same concerns that she had considered with how large their group was. It was easy to get split up and to attract unwanted attention.

She slowly fell back to the rear of the group, the only person noticing her doing so being Bandit since he had been matching her step for step. The Marine went to move with her but Amity shook her head, knowing that if they both dropped back then it would draw attention.

"Tighten it up." Rick whispered as she fell behind to Glenn's side, both of them nodding and all but herding those in front of them closer to the others.

"Hey, Glenny." Amity greeted her friend, smiling over at him and receiving a smile in return.

"Hey, Am." He replied.

"Can I ask you something?" Amity wondered and though Glenn looked at her with a bit of confusion, he nodded his head.

"What do you think about Eugene?" She wondered, watching her friend closely for his reaction.

"So what you're really asking me is 'do you think Eugene is telling the truth', right?" Glenn replied, looking over at Amity with raised brows and a bit of a teasing smirk on his lips.

"Exactly, so?" Amity prodded, not letting Glenn revel in his moment of seeing through Amity's leading question.

"I think that you of all people should be willing to believe that there is a chance to get out of this." Glenn told her, his voice ringing with honesty and optimism that Amity was hard-pressed to break.

"Resistance and a cure... they're two different things, friendo. But, with what Bandit told me Eugene told y'all, the way that he is claiming this thing could be destroyed has nothing to do with a cure for anyone being bitten, it's about just destroying the walkers, which has nothing to do with my resistance." Amity pointed out.

She watched her friend's brows furrow together, seeing the slight distress on his face as he thought what she said over before he shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, Amity. I'm not like you, I don't know the how's and why's behind this kind of thing, but if Eugene says that he can stop it all and he has people like Rosita and Abraham willing to put their lives on the line for him, then I would like to believe that it's true." He admitted and Amity nearly sighed.

As much as she would like to accept hope that easily, her mind was stopping her from doing so. Too much about it didn't make sense and the gut feeling she had when she looked at Eugene and he pointedly avoided her gaze, made her that much more hesitant.

"I don't think we need to be talking about this right now anyways. With all of us on the road, we're just trying to survive right now. We don't need anything dividing us." Glenn continued, cutting through Amity's thoughts and sending a twinge of guilt through her.

She knew that that was perhaps what it seemed like she was doing, like she was trying to pull people to her 'side' on the matter, but that wasn't it at all. She just didn't want her family following a blind hope that could lead to them all being killed over the journey for nothing in the end.

"You're right- sorry." Amity said, her voice soft as she let her footsteps slow that much more, wanting to flank the group alone now that she was properly reprimanded, but Glenn wasn't having that.

"Hey, Amity, I know you weren't... I just think we need to focus on the now, you know?" Glenn told the woman, his voice gentle in a way that let Amity know he was worried that he had upset her.

"No, I get it, Glenn. I should have kept my thoughts to myself about it." Amity said, not looking at her friend.

"No, I'm glad you trust me enough to-" Glenn began, reaching out for the redhead, but the sound of someone screaming for help had them both pausing with the rest of the group.

Their eyes flew around the space, their weapons raising as they turned their backs to the group momentarily to check the trail behind them to make sure that nothing was coming at them from behind.

"What the hell?" Amity muttered to herself, looking over her shoulder to find Daryl and Rick, wondering what their next move was going to be.

"Help, anybody! Help!" The voice screamed in the distance.

"Dad, come on." Carl urged, wanting to go help the person in distress.

Amity exchanged a look with Glenn before ducking her way through the group, dead set on making it to her significant other's side.

A moment after her arm brushed Daryl's, Carl had convinced his dad to move and in turn, the rest of the group followed.

Amity sprinted alongside Daryl, a step behind Rick and Carl, and came upon the sight of walkers surrounding a large boulder with a screaming man on the top of it, just out of the reach of their decaying hands.

"Anyone, help! Help!" He screamed.

Once in range, Amity let an arrow fly and skewered the skull of a walker just as Carl shot one down as well. Rick and Carol moved forward with their knives, and Daryl took out the final walker with a bolt through its head.

"We're clear. Keep watch." Rick told the group lingering on the edges once the threat had been taken down.

Amity looked up at the man on the rock, noting the white priest's collar around his throat, and immediately tilted her head in question as she watched him.

"Come on down." Rick told the man.

"How did you even get up there?" Amity asked, walking around the boulder in search of places to step up but finding none. It must have been pure adrenaline and desperation that got him up there.

As she rounded the boulder, Daryl gave her a look that said to stay close instead of wandering like she had and she offered him a smile as she side-stepped the puddle of vomit that she had heard the stranger release.

"I'm Gabriel." The priest introduced after he had gathered himself and apologized for getting sick.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick asked him and as he laughed in reply, Amity regarded him with raised brows.

"Do I look like I would have any weapons?" He asked incredulously.

"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like." Abraham drawled out with obvious suspicion.

"I have no weapons of any kind. The word of God is the only protection I need." Gabriel stated and Amity held back a sigh.

God's protection wasn't gained through waiting around for him to do everything for you, it was taking what he provided you with- weapons, food, your body- and providing for yourself. That was the distinction her daddy had always made to her, and she figured this man must have missed that interpretation of free will.

"Sure didn't look like it." Daryl told him as his brother openly snorted at what the man had said.

Gabriel's eyes darted from Merle to Daryl then to Amity who was lingering close to the hunters' side before looking around the group.

"I called for help. Help came." Gabriel insisted and Amity didn't hold back her sigh this time, catching the way Michael looked over at her.

"Do you have- have any food? Whatever I had left, it just hit the ground." Gabriel explained and Carl immediately held out his hand towards the man.

"We've got some pecans." Carl offered and the priest took them.

"Thank you."

Amity was slightly overwhelmed with Carl's kindness in that moment. While all of them were hesitant and suspicious, he was open and willing to help. He wasn't taking the safe and easy route, he was doing what was right.

Lori would be so proud of him.

With that in mind, Amity offered her younger friend a smile that, once Carl had caught sight of it, he returned with a hint of shyness.

The sound of Judith's babbling took the attention towards the baby held in Tyreese's arms. Amity watched, shifting closer to the stranger, as Gabriel's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the baby before he began to smile.

"That's a beautiful child." He commented, but his words weren't taken lightly.

A few in their group shifted as Amity had, their protective tendencies for the younger of their group on full alert as the man eyed the baby.

"Do you have a camp?" Gabriel asked, after realizing no one was going to thank him for his words.

"No." Rick replied immediately. "Do you?"

"I have a church." Gabriel offered.

"Hold your hands above your head." Rick stated sharply and the man complied immediately.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Their leader asked as he patted down the man's torso.

"Not any, actually." Gabriel replied and Amity exchanged a look with her brother.

"Turn around." Rick stated, turning the priest himself.

"How many people have you killed?" He questioned.

"None." Gabriel answered, sounding affronted.

"Why?" Rick asked.

"Because the Lord abhors violence." Gabriel told him plainly.

"What have you done?" Rick questioned, his voice hard and Amity watched Gabriel shift, his eyes bouncing back and forth in a way that had her own narrowing in on him.

"We've all done something." Rick insisted.

"I'm a sinner." Gabriel admitted. "I sin almost every day, but those sins, I confess them to God, not strangers."

Amity could accept that reasoning, but she didn't think the sins were something as simple as mixing fabrics or cursing. She saw something behind the man's expression that lingered behind the eyes of every survivor.

There was a guilt there, a distinct one, but Amity also saw cowardice.

Cowardice was dangerous in almost all cases, guilt was not.

"You said you had a church?" Michonne reminded them and after Gabriel nodded, the group was on the move again not long after.

Though she was a bit reluctant to make camp in a church, Amity realized that this was the best camp that they would have had since leaving Terminus and they couldn't forfeit it because of silly things like being religiously uncomfortable.

"Hey, earlier, were you watching us?" Rick asked Gabriel as they walked.

The priest led the group with Amity, Daryl, Rick, and Maggie following close behind.

"I keep to myself. Nowadays, people are just as dangerous as the dead, don't you think?" Gabriel pointed out.

Immediately, Amity was shaking her head.

Her mind bounced between the Governor, the men at the farm, Kipp and his men, Jude specifically, and then Gareth and the rest of Terminus.

"People are worse." Amity said, her voice holding a lot less emotion, less life, than she had wanted it to.

She felt Daryl's eyes on her but kept her gaze on the forest ahead of them.

"Well, I wasn't watching you." Gabriel insisted. "I haven't been beyond the stream near my church more than a few times since it all started. That was the furthest I've gone before today."

There was a beat before the man continued, his tone shifting and though it took Amity a moment, she realized that he was trying to joke with them.

"Or maybe I'm lying. Maybe I'm lying about everything and there's no church ahead at all. Maybe I'm leading you into a trap so I can steal all your squirrels." He teased, laughing to himself before turning and seeing that no one in her group was smiling along.

Instead, as he looked at them, Rick and Daryl pushed around him in a show of intimidation that left the priest stuttering.

"Members of my flock had often told me that my sense of humor leaves much to be desired." Gabriel excused himself.

"Yeah, it does." Daryl told him dryly, only pulling his hard gaze away when Amity tugged at his arm.

"Lay off, Killer. I think it's been a while since he's been around people." Amity muttered to the hunter who shook his head.

"Don't matter. He's skeevy as hell and I ain't lookin' to lose any of my squirrels." Daryl told her, placing his hand briefly over the one she had on his arm to make a point.

At that, Amity couldn't help but smile up at the man with fondness before nodding her head, turning to look at the path ahead of them and dropping her hand from his arm just as a church came into their view.

As Gabriel climbed the steps, Rick called out to stop him before he opened the door.

"Can we take a look around first? We just want to hold on to our squirrels." Rick said, holding out his hand for the keys and leaving little room for argument.

Amity followed Daryl into the church, Michael at her back a step ahead of Carol, while Bandit wandered the edges of the large sanctuary.

She stalked along to one of the back rooms, slightly overwhelmed with the religious depictions around the space.

Reaching out, Amity trailed calloused fingertips over a carved wooded scene of the Last Supper, gently following the line of Jesus' arms before dropping her hand to her side.

She turned to find Daryl watching her and gave the man a pressed smile, moving back out of the space once a whistle sounded from Rick to let them know that it was all clear.

"Thanks for this." Carl was telling Gabriel as she came out the front door of the church, taking the steps two at a time before she was joining Merle and Daryl at the bottom.

"We found a short bus out back." Abraham was telling Rick. "It don't run, but I bet we could fix that in less than a day or two. Father here says he doesn't want it... Looks like we found ourselves some transport."

There was a beat of silence in which Amity watched Rick gently caress his daughter's head.

"You understand what's at stake here, right?" Abraham pushed and Amity resisted the urge to scoff like Merle did, not wanting to be as openly dubious of the Washington D.C. plan as the eldest Dixon was, especially not with Glenn watching her so closely.

"Yes, I do." Rick told the man.

"Now that we can take a breath-" Michonne began, but Abraham cut her off.

"We take a breath, we slow down, shit inevitably goes down." He stated harshly.

"We need supplies no matter what we do next." Michonne practically growled back.

"That's right." Rick agreed. "Water, food, ammunition."

"Short bus ain't going nowhere." Daryl added, standing by the door as the rest of the group filed in past him. "Bring you back some baked beans."

"One way or another, we're doing what Rick does. We're not splitting up again." Glenn told the man as he stopped at his side, holding his gaze before moving on, and that alone warmed Amity's heart.

She watched as the rest of the group echoed the sentiment to the redhead as they moved past him to enter the church and before long, she was the only one left with the trio dead set on D.C..

Waiting as Abraham's gaze turned to her, Amity held her bow firmly between her hands and stepped up to the man.

"My people haven't gotten this far by chasing the claims of one individual with nothing to back it up." Amity told the man, watching him swell in indignation at Eugene being questioned almost immediately.

"I don't know why you're so dead set on following a man who is giving you not shit to go on." She continued firmly, not letting him cut over her as he usually did when someone questioned their mission. "But it obviously means a lot if it's got you like you are. I don't doubt that you're a good guy, Abraham. I doubt that your driving force is real, is valid, but I'm not going to sit idly by while my family is thrown into a wild goose chase for nothing."

"D.C. isn't nothing. It's real." Rosita said from behind the man, but Amity shook her head.

"D.C. may be real, but does it hold what Eugene says it does?" She questioned, her eyes now turning to the man in question who gazed blankly back at her for a few seconds before averting his eyes and causing her to press her lips tightly together.

"Did Maggie or Glenn ever tell you about me?" Amity asked the trio, looking between each of them and finding nothing of note behind their eyes in response to her question.

"Merle said you were a doctor-" Rosita began, but Amity shook her head.

"A clinical neuropsychologist, but that's not what's important." She corrected. "Did they tell you what happened to me while we were at our old home?"

Rosita shook her head and Abraham simply stared at her while Eugene continued to avoid her eyes.

Nodding her head in response, Amity was warmed by her friends' loyalty. They knew how important it was that Amity's secret was kept as such, but it was Amity's secret to share as she pleased.

"I was bit." Amity divulged, reaching up to tug aside the straps of her sports bra and tank top to reveal the scar that was distinct and obvious once it was uncovered.

She watched their reactions closely, not even flinching when Abraham's first instinct was to raise the weapon in his hand despite the fact that the wound was obviously old and scarred over.

She heard someone move down the steps and found Daryl making his way to her side, his crossbow raised in his hands though Abraham was already lowering his weapon as his mind caught up to his instincts.

"If ya ever-" Daryl began, his voice a snarl as he glared at the ginger man, but Amity reached out to settle him with a hand against his chest.

It took a few seconds, but the hunter lowered his weapon, his body still tense as he must have just walked out to see the man threaten her.

"How?" Rosita stuttered out, but now that she was sure Daryl wasn't going to attack Abraham, Amity's focus was on Eugene.

"Ask him. He has all the answers, right?" She insisted, raising her brows in a bit of a challenge before turning to tuck her arm around one of Daryl's, pulling him from the scene and leaving the trio to their own issues.

"What the hell was that?" Daryl asked her sharply as they climbed the stairs and Amity shrugged.

"I showed them my bite. That's the normal reaction." She explained, and Daryl narrowed his eyes at her words.

"What do you mean _normal_?" He questioned.

"Well, I haven't shown many people, but that was Bandit's reaction too. I'm assuming its just the normal one. It's instinctual." She reasoned and the hunter grumbled to himself about stupid people not thinking before acting as they crossed the sanctuary, making their way to the front and towards Michael who was sat with Tyreese.

"It's not that big of a deal, Dixon." Amity told the man, watching him shake his head in return.

"Not this time, girl, but it coulda been." He insisted, and Amity had to give him that.

There was a reason she was selective with who she shared her secret with.

People had killed for less before and Amity had no doubt that they would again.

* * *

 **The first chapter for the AU with Amity and Daryl is up! It's titled, "Diametrically Opposed."**

 **The only thing that I'm not certain about is if I'm going to make it entirely a zombieless AU or have it go into the apocalpyse later on and show how their story would have drastically changed had they met before the outbreak.**

 **Head on over there and check it out! Leave a review with your thoughts on zombies v. no zombies there!**

 **Also, don't forget to leave your thoughts about this chapter! What do you think about Abraham's group and Amity butting heads? Do you think Amity is going to head into Atlanta with Daryl or stay behind to deal with the Termites?**


	41. Chapter 41

As groups were split up for various gathering activities, Amity pulled herself away from an extremely hesitant Daryl to go into town.

The man hadn't been pleased to hear that Rick had assigned her to something separate from gathering water with himself and Carol, but Amity had convinced him to relax after pointing out that Glenn and Maggie wouldn't let anything happen to her, that _she_ wouldn't let anything happen to her.

She reasoned that if anything _did_ happen, one of them would get back and would find Daryl and he'd find her.

End of story.

There was no doubt in her mind that Daryl would always find her.

After talking him down from openly protesting to simply grumbling his discontent, Amity parted from him with a quick peck to the lips before rushing off to join the aforementioned couple and Tara.

"We took cars for granted." Amity commented as the four of them walked together through the woods, heading in the direction that the map and vague words from Gabriel had directed them. "That was something I realized after the prison. I thought as much when I lost my car in the beginning too, and yet I got used to having vehicles around again."

"I know what you mean." Maggie agreed with a smile and a shake of her head.

"Woke up on the ground and after getting out of the prison, my first thought the next morning was to get moving but I wished for a car that would do it for me." Amity lamented, laughing lightly at herself.

"Still can't believe I didn't see you." Glenn commented, his tone having Amity's laugh sputtering out as she looked over at her close friend.

"I was either laying on the ground out of sight or I was hauling ass out of there, Glenn. There was only about a ten minute window that you could have seen me in." Amity told him, reaching out to wrap slender fingers around his wrist to give it a gentle squeeze.

"Besides, things worked out. She found us like you found me, there's no point in worrying over the what-ifs and should haves." Maggie added and Amity nodded in agreement.

"Plus, I would have never met Bandit if you were around and that would be a tragedy in itself." Amity said, the combined effort of the two women seeming to lighten Glenn's mood as they approached the gun store they were sent to.

Amity and Glenn moved to the doorway, Maggie and Tara covering them as they pulled open the old door and ducked their way inside the building.

After doing a quick sweep to ensure that they were alone, Amity went right while Glenn went left and they quickly scoured the store.

Amity could hear the murmur of voices from the two women outside, but focused on digging under shelves for loose bullets.

A sliding noise had Amity looking up just in time to see a mop clatter against the floor, Glenn's ankle pressing against it as both him and the mop brought down a small stack of boxes.

Amity couldn't help but laugh at the look on her friend's face as he stumbled his way to the front of the store and out the door, leaving her to follow a bit more gracefully as she held back anymore laughter.

"Was it a walker?" Tara asked as he stepped out, obviously having heard the commotion.

"Uh, yeah. It was a walker." Glenn lied, looking back over his shoulder at Amity who was pressing her lips tightly together.

"Really?" Maggie questioned, spotting the look on her best friend's face and raising a brow at Glenn.

"It was a stack of boxes and a mop and I tripped." Glenn confessed all at once and Amity finally let her laugh ring free, the sound mingling with that of Maggie and Tara's amusement.

"Still got what we came for though." Glenn defended, pulling out a few heavy tubes that Amity realized were silencers.

"You actually found something?" Tara asked, surprised.

"Three silencers stashed in a mini-fridge." Glenn explained.

"I found around two dozen loose bullets under the shelves." Amity added with a smile.

"Rule number one of scavenging- there's nothing left in this world that isn't hidden." Glenn told them, his words of wisdom causing Amity to dramatically roll her eyes.

She respected Glenn and trusted him with her life, but taking him too seriously was still something she struggled with after remembering him drunk at the CDC or a stuttering mess over Merle's STD meds.

Clapping the man roughly on the back as they began the trek back to the church, Amity snickered as Glenn rubbed his shoulder blade where she had touched him.

"You've been hanging out with the Dixon's for too long- and Bandit for that matter." Glenn griped half-heartedly over the roughness of her actions.

"Just admit that I'm tougher than you already, Glenny." Amity taunted, poking the man's side before leaping out of his reach as he started after her in revenge.

"Children, please!" Maggie called after them, the amusement obvious in her voice as she chuckled at the sight of her husband chasing down her best friend.

The only thing that stopped the impromptu game of tag was them reaching the church and Amity all out sprinting over to where Merle stood, ducking behind the eldest Dixon while the man twisted around to look at her with confusion.

"Red, what in the hell-" He began, but trailed off as he spotted Glenn sliding to stop just in front of him, glaring at the woman who was now peeking out from behind his broad figure.

"Hey, Merle, buddy- missed you." Amity chirped from her hiding spot, sending Glenn a shit eating grin.

"I ain't no damn hidin' spot, girl. Ain't your damn body guard neither. Go find Darylina or your jarhead if you're wantin' that." He insisted, trying to step to the side so that Glenn could have at her, but Amity wasn't having it as she clung to the older man.

"Merle, just this once can you not play along?" Amity whined, but Merle effectively detangled himself from her a moment later, leaving Amity scrambling up the steps of the church with Glenn hot on her heels once again.

* * *

That night, the church was filled with laughter and contentment as the large group settled in to enjoy the substantial haul of food that the group Rick had taken to the food bank had brought back.

There were cans of fruit and vegetables alike, everyone taking a few scoops of each along with the roasted meat that Merle had provided after spending a day hunting in the woods with Michael tagging along in hopes of picking up a thing or two from the man.

Along with the food, Gabriel had even let them break into the stash of wine that the priest had in the church.

Amity had settled down next to her brother to eat, the Dixons relaxing across the aisle from them as Carol sat a step or two away.

The redhead had noticed her slight hesitation to be a part of the larger group. She saw the way her brother watched the woman, but there wasn't much to be done except to talk to her when she had the chance.

She knew that Daryl had been trying to, but she wasn't sure of the effect that his words were having on the woman.

Amity's foot, which looked tiny in her boots when sat next to her brother's, rested only a few inches away from Daryl's as the hunter straightened his tense legs out in front of him.

Smiling to herself, the woman stretched down in order to nudge his boot with her own, gaining his attention before kicking it once more.

Daryl turned his eyes to the redhead, his attention fully on her now, and he couldn't stop the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth at the sight of her stretched out as she was so that she could even reach him across the fairly small aisle.

Catching sight of his amusement, Amity narrowed her eyes at the man who simply raised a brow at the action before tucking into his food without a care, leaving her to scoff at him before straightening back up to sit properly.

"Glenn was bullying me today." Amity told her brother suddenly, smiling up at Bandit when she heard the man's chuckle from his spot on the pew that she was leaning against.

"And I'm sure you had nothing to do with it, right?" The Marine asked and Amity shook her head once, the action firm.

"Of course not." She stated simply, causing both men to laugh as Amity kept up her innocent facade.

"So, what is it exactly that you're expectin' me to do about it?" Michael asked once their laughter had faded.

"Beat him up, of course." Amity deadpanned. "Merle wouldn't do it for me, so it's up to my big brother."

She watched as her brother rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to speak, but the sound of Abraham's voice echoing through the space had him pausing.

"I'd like to propose a toast." Abraham announced.

Slowly, the chatter around the room died down and all eyes turned to the ginger giant.

"I look around this room and I see survivors. Each and every one of you has earned that title." He told the group, rousing a round of cheers from everyone with their various cups and containers filled with wine.

"Survivors!" Amity chimed in along with everyone else.

"Survivors." Abraham echoed after the noise began to die down again. "Is that all you want to be?"

The silence that fell was heavier this time and Amity's eyes sought Daryl's, the man already watching her and she pressed her lips together tightly to demonstrate her hesitation on the matter.

"Wake up in the morning, fight the undead pricks, forage for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, rinse and repeat? 'Cause you can do that. I mean, you got the strength. You got the skill. Thing is, for you people, for what you can do, that's just surrender." Abraham lamented. "Now, we get Eugene to Washington and he will make the dead die and the living will have this world again- and that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip."

Amity didn't buy into the fact that Eugene knew more about the disease than the next guy surviving in this world, perhaps even less if his hesitation over killing them was any indicator.

The woman had thought that her earlier revelation of the scarred bite marring her flesh would have pushed a healthy dose doubt into both Abraham and Rosita's minds, but it appeared that it hadn't.

"Eugene, what's in DC?" Abraham asked his traveling companion, turning the spotlight to the mullet-donning man who shifted on the pew in which he was sat.

"Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this FUBAR magnitude." Eugene replied immediately, albeit hesitantly. "That means food, fuel, refuge. Restart."

Amity couldn't deny that much.

If there was any chance of a sturdy place to hunker down in this country, it was more than likely in D.C.. The world wanted to protect their now pointless politicians, and those politicians would be looking to protect their own hides.

"However this plays out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there. Safer than you've been since this whole thing started. Come with us. Save the world for that little one. Save it for yourselves. Save it for the people out there who don't got nothing left to do except survive." Abraham rallied, his gaze flickering to Amity for a moment.

The woman raised her chin in defiance to the look her gave her.

He hadn't changed his mind at all it seemed, instead he just changed his pitch.

It was smart really, it seemed that the man realized that Amity's word as far as knowledge of the disease meant more to her people than Eugene's, so he found a reason that would convince even her that heading to D.C. was the best course of action for the group.

Rick's chuckle and Judith's cooing took Abraham's eyes from Amity and they instead turned to Rick.

"What was that?" The man asked his daughter and a few people in their group laughed lightly.

"I think she knows what I'm about to say." Rick added, and Amity nodded her head in acceptance.

She knew what he was going to say as well.

"She's in- and if she's in, I'm in. _We're_ in." Rick said, and that settled that.

Amity's eyes bounced between each of her group's members, reading their reactions to Rick's decision.

Abrupt movement caught the woman's eye and she spotted Carol just as she ducked out the church doors with Daryl already heading to follow her.

Her brother went to rise as well, his attention always on the willowy woman so it was no surprise that he also caught on to Carol's departure.

Reaching out, Amity put a hand on Michael's shoulder as she rose, telling him to stay put and that she'd go and talk to the woman who seemed to be having a hard time with the group.

It was no surprise, Amity wasn't sure that she would be able to meld back in so easily after everything that had happened at the prison either.

The redhead pushed her way out of the church after giving Bandit a reassuring smile when he noticed her leaving.

She caught up to Daryl and Carol in time to see them standing behind a running car, the sight having her heart drop to her stomach, and she quickly stepped out of the tree line just as another car screeched tires and sped away.

"What the fuck?" Amity asked aloud, causing both Carol and Daryl to whip their weapons around and direct them at her before lowering them as they realized who she was.

Daryl, however, didn't just lower his crossbow. No, the man raced to the rear end of the car and smashed in the back taillights while Amity looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"What are you doing?" She asked just as Carol questioned along the same lines.

"They got Beth!" He yelled in explanation.

It took a moment for the words to really register in her mind, but once they had, Amity was throwing herself in the passenger seat just as Carol clambered into the back.

Daryl pulled away from the side of the road quickly, pressing the gas pedal almost to the floor.

It was an action that made the redhead nervous due to the absolute darkness surrounding the vehicle, but she understood and appreciated his urgency.

This was a chance to get another one of their people back, and they weren't going to waste that chance.

* * *

"How long had he been gone?"

Bandit looked between Rick and Sasha as the woman made her distress over the situation at hand clear.

The Marine had tagged along when Rick had noticed that a significant chunk of their group was missing and that that group included Amity. The other two men at his side, Michael and Tyreese, joined their small search party when they realized that their siblings, and Michael's woman, were also included in the missing group.

It took a lot of convincing, but Merle hung back with Glenn and the rest just in case things at the church went south.

After only a few moments of searching, they had stumbled across Sasha fighting off some of the undead, the woman nearly taking out her brother when he grabbed her, and Bandit made a note to not to startle her at any point if he fancied keeping his face in the state it was- which he did.

"He's getting away!" Sasha insisted.

"Who?" Rick asked in return.

"Somebody was watching us." The woman explained.

"If we go in there now, some of us aren't coming back." Tyreese told the group.

"Bob is out there somewhere." Sasha insisted. "Scared, alone."

"Maybe not alone." Michael cut in.

"Daryl, Amity, and Carol are missing, too." Rick relayed the bad news with a tense jaw.

Running a large hand over his close shaved head, Bandit sucked in a breath of air and let the knife in his hand stay readied at his side as he followed their small group back to the church.

Without much fanfare, Sasha pushed her way into the building and stalked towards the back of the room, leaving the rest of them trailing in after her.

"Stop." The woman hissed at the priest as she approached him, eyeing the man in the shadowed sanctuary.

Bandit ghosted his way along the line of pews but held back, not wanting to involve himself until he had to.

"What are you doing?" Sasha asked the man of God, receiving a confused look in return.

"What are you doing?" She repeated herself, her voice stronger this time. "This is all connected. _You_ show up, we're being _watched_ , and now four of us are _gone_."

"I don't- I don't have anything to do with this." Gabriel told the woman, his voice shaking as he looked around the group for help.

Apparently, his lack of knowledge was something that Sasha did not want to hear about since it drove her to pull the knife from her belt.

Immediately, the priest leapt back as if stung and a few members of the group stepped forward to intervene, but their pleas for her to stop went ignored though the woman didn't approach the man any further.

"Who's out there?" She asked him, her voice low with warning.

"I-I don't have anything to do with this." Gabriel insisted.

"Where are our people?" Sasha questioned.

"I don't have anything to- " Gabriel began to protest, but his words were cut short.

"Where are our people?!" She yelled in his face, leaning forward with her form so tightly wound that Bandit was counting down the seconds until she popped.

"Please, I don't have anything to do with this. I-" Gabriel continued to plead, but Rick stepped forward between the priest and the scared angry woman.

"Why'd you bring us here?" The leader asked, his voice low.

"Please, I-" Gabriel tried to defend himself, but Rick wasn't listening to any of his repetitive begging.

"You working with someone?" Rick questioned.

"I'm alone. I'm alone." Gabriel all but chanted, urging them to believe him. "I was always alone."

"What about the woman in the food bank, Gabriel? What did you do to her?" Rick asked, raising more than a few eyebrows in the group as they watched their leader dig into the priest.

"'You'll burn for this.' That was for you. Why? What are you gonna burn for, Gabriel?" Rick lunged for the man at the end of his question, grabbing him up by the front of his coat.

Bandit noticed that Amity's brother, Michael, moved towards the men as if he was going to intervene before stopping short just past the front pews.

"What? What did you do? What did you do?!" Rick asked Gabriel again and again, until the man's expression of fear broke into one of guilt.

"I lock the doors at night. I always lock the doors at night. I always lock the doors at night. I always-" He started chanting, his voice breaking as he finally gave way to the guilt he was harboring within him.

"They started coming, my congregation. Atlanta was bombed the night before and they were scared. They were- they were looking for a safe place, a place where they felt safe. And it was so early, it was so early, and the doors were still locked." Gabriel explained.

Bandit felt his stomach roll, already catching onto how the story would end, but he couldn't pull his dark eyes away from the priest as he spoke.

"You see it was my choice. There were so many of them and they were trying to pry the shutters and banging on the sidings, screaming at me. And so the dead came for them. Women, children... entire families calling my name as they were torn apart, begging me for mercy." Gabriel completely fell apart, his knees giving out from under him as he crumpled onto the church floor, sobbing.

"Son of a bitch." Merle muttered, the words holding no malice, just disgust that mirrored the emotion that rolled within the Marine's own chest.

"Begging me for mercy. Damning me to hell. I buried their bones. I buried it all. The Lord sent you here to finally punish me. I'm damned. I was damned before. I always lock the doors." Gabriel sobbed into his hands. "I always lock the doors."

The group stood there watching the man, no one moving or making a sound until a whistle chimed from outside of the church doors.

Bandit tensed like he had been jabbed with a hot iron, his weapon raising as he all but stalked towards the doors while Glenn carefully peered out one of the windows.

"There's something- there's _someone_ outside lying in the grass." The Asian man informed the group.

Without warning, Sasha was brushing past Bandit, but the Marine and Rick were hot on her heels as she exited the church, the rest of the group following along after.

They were met with the sight of a familiar figure on the ground and snarling walkers stumbling through the trees.

"Oh! Bob! Bob." Sasha gasped out as she ran to the injured man's side.

Though he wasn't sure what had happened to him, Bandit couldn't help but notice the appendage that he was missing and it seemed so did the others.

"His leg." Maggie gasped.

"Get Bob inside! We'll take care of them." Rick told the group, moving forward towards the undead with Bandit and Merle, the men using melee weapons until Rick was pushed into using his firearm.

"Get inside! Go!" He directed the group, falling back but remaining outside until the last local walker had been downed.

After securing the church doors behind them, Bandit joined the rest of the group at the front of the church where Bob now laid on the floor in the middle of everyone.

He skirted along the edges of the group, involved and listening, but not wanting to be in the way.

"I was in the graveyard," Bob was explaining. "Somebody knocked me out. I woke up outside this place. It looked like a school. It was that guy, _Gareth,_ and five other ones. They were eating my leg right in front of me."

Bandit shook his head at the man's words, his hand raising again to rub over his close shaved head.

"Like it was _nothing_." Bob grit out. "All proud like they had it all figured out."

"Did they have Daryl and Amity? Carol?" Rick asked, garnering both Bandit, Merle, and Michael's attention, but Bob shook his head and the Marine felt his chest clench uncomfortably at the thought of the redhead who had become his traveling companion still being missing, especially if Gareth was out there.

"Gareth said they drove off." Bob explained.

That statement confused them all. Bandit was positive that if Amity had left the group that she fought so hard to find, she had a hell of a good reason for doing so, but right then, any reason that would have been considered a good one was escaping him.

Bob let out a groan and several people in the circle winced in response.

The way the group cared for one another hadn't ceased to astound Bandit as he traveled with them. They truly were a family like Amity had claimed, their pain resonated between them all.

"He's in pain. Do we have anything?" Maggie asked.

"I think there are pill packets in the first aid kit." Rosita replied.

"Yeah." Sasha said, giving the confirmation that they were something she wanted for the man.

"Save 'em." Bob told them but Sasha shook her head.

"No." She argued.

"Really." Bob said through clenched teeth, taking a moment to slowly shift his weight onto one arm. The man reached for the neckline of his shirt and tugged the fabric back to reveal a nasty looking bite wound to his shoulder.

"It happened at the food bank." He explained.

The heartbreak and pain in the small sanctuary was nearly physical and Bandit had to look away from the couple on the floor.

"It's okay." Sasha soothed her boyfriend, her voice steady in a way that had Bandit marveling at her strength and not for the first time that night.

People liked to believe that it was the men who ruled the land now that the apocalypse had struck, but Bandit knew differently.

The women who were standing around him, and the fiery redhead and willowy silver-haired survivor that were missing, were forces to be reckoned with unlike any seen before.

They had fought tooth-and-nail for their place in the new world that was resisting their survival at every moment, and they weren't giving any ground.

It took only a few moments for the wounded man to be relocated to a back room on a sofa that was definitely more comfortable for him than the hard wooden floor.

Bandit hovered around the main sanctuary area, a few steps from the leader of the group as he spoke with their current shelter-giver.

"Do you know the place Bob was talking about?" Rick asked Gabriel who nodded.

"It's an elementary school. It's close." The priest revealed.

"How close?" Rick asked and after receiving no answer, he repeated his question. "How close, Gabriel?"

"It's just a 10-minute walk through the woods from here, due south of the graveyard." Gabriel told him.

When Rick turned from Gabriel, Bandit followed suit and exchanged a look with Michael as he crossed the room towards the majority of their group.

"Does he have a fever?" Rick asked Maggie.

"He's just warm." The woman replied.

"Jim lasted almost two days before we left him... Amity's lasted this long." Glenn added, causing Michael to narrow his eyes at the younger man.

Bandit shared the sentiment, the word 'lasted' made Amity's immunity sound as if it could change at any moment and that wasn't something that the Marine wanted to hear.

"Time for a reality check." Abraham cut in abruptly. "We all need to leave for D.C. right now."

"Daryl, Amity, and Carol are gonna be back. We're not going anywhere without them." Rick said slowly, carefully, as he looked at the other man.

"I respect that, but there's a clear threat here to Eugene. I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier. So if y'all won't come, good luck to you. We'll go our separate ways." Abraham said quickly, readjusting the weapon in his hand as Rosita rose to her feet and they both headed for the doors.

"Y'all leavin' on foot then?" Merle drawled out his question lazily, but the edge in his tone was nearly impossible to miss.

"We fixed that damn bus ourselves." Abraham bit out as he turned to face the group.

"There are a lot more of us." Rick growled as he strode down the aisle towards the redhead.

"You want to keep it that way? You should come." Abraham told the leader, obviously questioning his decision to stay.

Bandit would be leaving without Amity over his dead body, and he knew that her brother felt the same. He couldn't trust Merle Dixon as far as he could throw his hick ass, but he knew the man wouldn't be leaving his brother or Amity either.

They were at an impasse.

"Carol saved your life." Rick reminded Abraham harshly. "We saved your life."

"Well, I am trying to save yours!" Abraham yelled. "Save everyone's!"

"We're not going anywhere without our people." Rick told him.

"Your people took off!"

"They're coming back!" Michael interjected, his deep bass rumbling through the space clearer than even Abraham's shouting.

"To what, picked-over bones?!" The redhead snapped back.

"You're not taking-" Rick began, reaching for the man who shoved him away.

"Do not lay hands!" Abraham started but Rosita cut him off with a yell of her own.

"Abraham!"

"Hey, hey, stop!" Glenn said loudly as he pushed between the two men. "Now!"

Bandit was fully prepared for the two to simply plow over the younger man, but both of them backed off a step, their respect for Glenn shining through in that moment.

"Do you really think that you're gonna be any safer leaving right now? In the middle of the night?" Glenn asked sharply, rounding on Abraham.

"Yeah." Abraham confirmed with a rough nod of his head.

It was obvious that his confidence in that was out of anger, not true belief. If it _was_ true belief, then Bandit reckoned the Sergeant was dumber than he had thought.

"What about tomorrow? We _need_ each other for this. We _need_ each other to get to D.C.! We can get through all of it together." Glenn reasoned.

"I have an idea." Tara spoke up, stepping forward and looking up at Abraham. "If you stay just one more day and help, I'll go with you to D.C. no matter what, okay?"

"Glenn and Maggie, too." Abraham countered, and Merle let out a scoff of disbelief even as Rick shook his head.

"No." The leader stated firmly.

"Good luck then. I'm not interested in breaking up what you have here." Abraham said. "Rosita, grab your gear."

Bandit wanted to knock his thick skull from his shoulders as Rosita protested softly, but the stubborn Army man simply pressed on, turning to snap at Eugene.

"Eugene, let's go." He said firmly, and all eyes turned to the self-proclaimed scientist who wasn't moving nor meeting the eyes of his protector.

"Eugene, move it." Abraham insisted.

"I don't want to." Eugene said, his voice shaky, but his words garnered him a bit of credit in Bandit's book.

"Now!" Abraham growled, and that was all it took to get Eugene's resolve breaking and for that little bit of credit to slip away.

"You're not taking the bus." Rick said, his voice low as Eugene passed him and the trio headed towards the doors.

His words had Abraham halting, turning slightly as he prompted a fight.

"Try to stop me." The redhead challenged.

Bandit crossed his arms over his chest as Merle sidled up to rest only a step behind the former sheriff, Michael slowly made his way to the front doors himself as if he was perfectly prepared to become a human barrier at Rick's request.

The leader didn't look to anyone else though as he strode towards Abraham, the look on his face telling that he was more than prepared to stop the other man from taking his family's one form of transportation.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Glenn called out as he once again pushed his way between the two men, trying to keep the peace.

At this point, Bandit figured it would be best to simply let them duke it out then move on.

"You stay-" Glenn began, looking at Abraham. "-you stay and help us, and we will go with you."

"No." Rick cut in, but Glenn sent the man a sharp look.

"It's not your call." He told him before turning his attention back to Abraham.

"You stay, help us." Glenn insisted and the ginger man seemed to be thinking it over.

"Half a day." Abraham said finally. "Come high noon, we're taillights. I'm not waiting for the other damn shoe to drop."

"And we will leave with you." Maggie spoke up from her spot.

Bandit was hoping that Amity showed up before noon the next day, because he didn't want to imagine her face when she returned to find Maggie and Glenn gone. It was clear to the Marine from the moment they had found them in the train car, but even from the moment when she had seen Maggie's sign, that the couple meant more to her than most.

"Twelve hours, then we go." Abraham confirmed before he was walking back to the far side of the church as if nothing had happened.

He was a manipulative man- hard-headed, and he didn't stop until things went his way. Those characteristics were something that Bandit wanted to beat out of him if it meant keeping the group together.

Even he could see how desperately they all needed to stay together.

It was their one shot, and while Abraham may have been right about needing to get to D.C., leaving people behind wasn't a Marine's style and it didn't seem to be Rick's either.

The group split, everyone moving to their own spaces to take a few minutes after the high aggression moment that had just occurred.

As Bandit settled down on one of the pews, Michael found himself approaching Glenn and Maggie.

Tugging his hat from his head, the former rancher pushed a large hand through his dark and messy curls as he looked at his friends. The thought of them leaving didn't sit well with him, but he knew that it would be even worse for Amity when she returned from wherever she had gone off to.

"She ain't here to say it, so I reckon that I need to do it for her." Michael began, his voice low as he addressed the pair that he knew would know exactly to whom he was referring.

"It don't sit well that you might be goin' off with them. It don't sit well that they are wantin' you to in the first place." He said honestly. "I know Amity and I know Carol, and though I didn't think it was possible for anyone to at first, I'd like to think that I know Daryl fairly well too. They'll be comin' back. You know that, I know that, but I can't say how long that'll take. I just know that when they do come back and y'all have gone off with Mr. World Savior over there, Amity's gonna be a mess."

He saw the guilt flash behind Glenn's eyes as Maggie wrung her hands together, her eyes dropping to her boots, and while Michael felt guilty for making her upset, he wasn't sorry for mentioning how the two best friends were going to be split up.

Amity wasn't there and it needed to be addressed.

"I don't want to leave her. We just found each other again." Maggie said, her voice thick with unshed tears that she was blinking back.

"We don't have a choice, Mike. We need their help with this thing. We all need to stay together." Glenn reasoned, his voice urging Michael to understand and he did.

Michael got why they were doing what they were, and he appreciated it, but it didn't change the fact that it was something that just didn't sit right with him.

Like Maggie had said, they had all just found one another again and here they were being blown all different directions once more.

"We all need to go to D.C. together." Michael sighed, replacing his sturdy hat back on his head before nodding. "I get it though, and she will too, but if we catch up to y'all, y'all better be prepared for a hide tannin'."

His words pulled a watery smile from Maggie and the man, well versed in being a big brother, couldn't help but reach out to give the woman's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

The sound of boots echoing across the sanctuary floor had everyone gathering, beginning to settle in together at the front of the church as Rick collected their weapons together into one place.

Michael exchanged a look with Glenn, nodding his head at the younger man, before directing his full attention to their leader.

"They think they're in control. We're in here and they could be anywhere, but we know exactly where they are." Rick told them all after he laid out his plan of action for the night.

"Plan's got stones, I'll give you that." Abraham conceded.

"Make our move before they do." Glenn added with a nod.

"That's right. They're not counting on us thinking straight." Rick reasoned.

"Are we?" Rosita asked, her tone skeptical.

As everyone's eyes turned to her, the woman shifted slightly but didn't balk under the attention.

"I'm just making sure. It's a big play." She explained herself.

Rick rose fully to his feet from where he had been leaning against one of the pews, pacing forward until he was in the middle of the circle that the group had made.

"Remember what these people are capable of." He told the woman, letting his words hang in the air before redirecting his attention towards the large man that was sitting a bit secluded from the rest of them.

"Tyreese." Rick said, gaining the man's attention though he didn't turn to look at him.

"Yeah?" Tyreese asked in response.

"You up for this?" Rick questioned, but before he could receive an answer, Sasha stepped out of the back room and as soon as he saw her face, Bandit knew that the woman was going to declare something that wouldn't make her brother happy.

"I'm going with you." Sasha stated.

"You should stay with Bob." Tyreese said from where he sat, looking at his sister with grief clear behind his open expression.

"No, I want to be out there. I want to be a part of this." The woman argued, holding the older man's eyes for a moment before turning to go back into the room where her lover was laying, leaving no space for argument.

As Tyreese stood, Bandit sidestepped out of his way. It seemed that the man was going to make space for an argument anyways.

Watching him move into the back room as well, Bandit let out a heavy sigh before pacing forward and grabbing up another knife to pair with his own.

They were supposed to appear armed to the teeth and ready to take out the threat, so that's what he was going to do.

He placed the new knife on his belt, letting it hang openly as he palmed his personal blade.

He felt a hand rest on his broad shoulder and turned his head to see that Merle had came up next to him, a grin that spelled nothing but trouble in place on the older man's lips.

"You ain't never gonna get the chance to be out of the damn war zone, jarhead." The eldest Dixon said, his tone taunting but his words holding nothing but the truth of the new world.

Bandit had dedicated his life from the age of eighteen onwards to being a Marine, and though he had never planned to retire until he absolutely had to, that was his choice at the time. Now, life was living on a tour day in and day out without any way out.

He supposed he should have been more upset over that fact like Merle had been expecting, but as fucked up as it was, this was the kind of life that Bandit was the most comfortable with. Surviving made sense.

"What about our weapon of mass destruction over there?" Bandit countered, nodding his head towards Eugene and pulling a hate-filled scoff from the redneck.

"Damn Tennessee top hat over there hasn't killed a damn fly and ain't ever gonna. Buncha bullshit they're marching towards and plannin' on leavin' my family behind for." Merle growled, not being subtle with his bitching though it didn't surprise Bandit one bit.

The man was as subtle as a grenade.

"Rick isn't going to leave Daryl behind." Bandit told him, not knowing why he did so.

"Ranger Rick can kiss my ass." Merle grumbled, but the Marine didn't buy it.

He had seen the way the older man was willing to have the leader's back earlier if he had needed it. Maybe Merle didn't like Rick, maybe it was just that he hated Abraham more, but it was clear that the man had earned his respect at the very least.

"Moving out! Grab everything you're needing." Rick's voice echoed through the space as his eyes ghosted over everyone in the sanctuary.

Bandit immediately moved to do as directed, but Merle's hand on his shoulder stopped him once again.

"You ain't gonna be leavin' Red behind neither, are ya?" Merle asked and Bandit took a moment to search the man's face, trying to find the motivation for his question, the trick behind his words, but all he found was curiosity and guardedness.

"Not a chance in hell." Bandit told him seriously.

Merle considered Bandit for a moment longer before nodding his head with what seemed to be something of approval. Apparently, the man didn't approve of Bandit being within arm's reach of his brother's significant other, but if the man was willing to stick his neck out for her then he was all for it.

Without commenting on that fact, Bandit returned the redneck's nod and continued on his path towards the door, following along with the main group of hard-hitters that were leaving the church behind.

As they walked down the path heading towards the school that Bob had mentioned and Gabriel had located for them, Bandit kept a firm grip on the gun he had been gifted on the front steps by Rick until the woods closed in behind them.

They walked for a while longer down the path before Rick raised a hand, pulling the group's attention as he motioned to the woods off to the side of the trail.

Ducking through the trees, Bandit followed Rick along until they were standing amongst the shadowed tree line, looking out at the small group now ducking in through the front doors of the church.

Bandit ached to plant a bullet in the skull of Gareth, thinking of the times that the man had taken Amity from the train car, from his grasp, and into danger.

They moved towards the church silently, their plan counting on the quietness of their movements. Bandit could hear Gareth's voice echoing within the small building, the man talking as usual.

As Bandit and Rick's boots hit the steps, the sound of Judith's crying reached them and the Marine resisted the urge to curse aloud. Their time frame got a bit smaller, but it was of little concern as they reached the top step.

"Are we done?" One of the Terminus members asked as Rick ghosted through the open church doors with Bandit hot on his heels, the rest of the group falling in behind them.

"We'll hit the hinges." Gareth responded, and without anymore hesitation, Rick sent two silenced bullets from his gun into the skulls of the two people that were next to the back room's door.

"Put your guns on the floor." The leader demanded, but it seemed that Gareth wasn't done.

"Rick, we'll fire right into that office. So you lower your gun-" He began, but his words were cut off by the cry of pain that left the man as Bandit fired a bullet of his own into his hand.

It wasn't enough to satisfy the yearning he had for the guy to be put down, but he knew that in the end, it was Rick's vengeance to be carried out.

Terminus had taken something out of the man that Bandit wasn't sure he would be able to get back.

"Put your guns on the floor and kneel." Rick ordered the rest of the former Terminus members as Gareth whimpered in pain, now kneeling on the floorboards of the sanctuary himself.

"Do what he says." He gasped out when his people hesitated. "Martin, there's no choice here."

"Yeah, there is." The man, Martin, argued.

Abraham took a step out of the shadows where he had lingered in the side of the room, his gun pointing directly at Martin's head and that seemed to be enough to convince the man to concede.

As Rick moved forward, rounding the wounded man kneeling on the ground, Bandit moved back to the far edges of the group. He had done his part and he would watch with sharp eyes to make sure that no one got the jump on one of the group, but he had taken his blow.

"No point in begging, right?" Gareth asked Rick, looking up at the leader as he stopped in front of where he had crawled, the pulpit to the former sheriff's back.

"No." Rick stated with coldness.

"Still, you could have killed us when you came in. There had to be a reason for that." Gareth said, always the one to talk his way out of things.

Bandit could understand why he had taken to Amity as he had. The woman had a silver-tongue herself.

"We didn't want to waste the bullets." Rick offered up in reply.

"We used to help people. We _saved_ people. Things changed. They came in and-" Gareth let out a pained groan, a sound that nearly had a shiver running down the Marine's spine. "After that... I know that you've been out there, but I can see it. You don't know what it is to be hungry. You don't have to do this. We can walk away and we will never cross paths again. I promise you."

"But you'll cross someone's path." Rick told him, his lips curling into a hateful sneer. "You'd do this to anyone, right? Besides, I already made you a promise."

Tearing the machete from his belt, the man embedded it in Gareth's head so fast that he had no time to react. Following suit, the others in Gareth's posse that were still alive barely had time to register what had happened to their leader before they were being descended on themselves.

With his arms tense, his dark eyes simply watched the massacre unfold in front of him. The pain and the suffering that those he had come to consider himself a part of rang clear in the pain that they were inflicting.

Bandit had seen a lot in his years, in his three tours overseas before returning to have this shit storm unfold in no time. He had seen men torn apart by bombs and had the scars to prove it. He had seen people burned, dogs tearing into a man, children with dead eyes approaching a checkpoint only to be blown sky high a moment later.

He had seen a lot, and through the terror that he witnessed, came an understanding of the world that few had.

So he stood back, and he watched, and he waited until blood coated the sanctuary floor, then everyone straightened from their fight.

"It could have been us." Rick told them, his face splattered with blood.

Gabriel appeared in the door of the back room in which their group had been hiding, looking at the scene in absolute horror.

Bandit resisted the urge to leave the building, to pretend like nothing had happened like he noticed Merle doing as the older man ducked out the church's entrance without a word.

Instead, he made his way into one of the other rooms and settled heavily onto the floor in a darkened corner, his head dropping back to rest heavily against the wall.

Unlike Bandit, Michael found his boots all but glued to the floor of the sanctuary as he stood with Maggie and Glenn, the weight of what had just happened resting heavily on his shoulders.

He was no fool. He understood how the world worked now that the dead outnumbered the living, but he couldn't help but feel that this was the breaking point for some of the group.

"This is the Lord's house." The priest said from where he stood in front of his pulpit, his voice desperate as he looked at them.

"No." Maggie said, her voice thick. "It's just four walls and a roof."


	42. Chapter 42

There was more than one issue that came along with trying to follow a car in the dead of night with no headlights. One of those issues quickly made itself known to the trio chasing down the car that would hopefully lead them to their lost group member as a darker shadow appeared in the middle of the road in front of them.

Tires squealed as whatever Daryl hit that was sat in the road sent the car swinging wide, the tail end arcing around to pass the front as they spun out before coming to an abrupt stop.

"Son of a bitch." Daryl spat as Amity simply tried to catch her breath.

The hunter pushed open his door and the two women in the car followed only seconds later, joining the hunter out on the asphalt.

There was no sign of tail lights anywhere.

Amity cast her wide eyes around the area, trying to take in anything that the choking darkness had to offer before turning to the others.

"Carol, check the tires. Daryl, check under the hood. We just might have gotten thrown off course. I'll look for what we hit." She told the pair, moving to take a step away but a rough hand on her elbow had her pausing.

"Be careful." Daryl's gruff voice told her and she nodded, offering the man a reassuring smile that she hoped his sharp eyes would be able to see through the darkness.

"Always am, slick." She told him, resting her hand briefly on his before pulling away and jogging back down the road a ways.

She heard the sound of the hood being pulled up on the car before she focused on the ground around her, hunting for whatever it was that they hit.

She had been walking for a minute or so when she spotted a darker mass in the middle of the lane.

Moving slowly, Amity approached it. Her blue eyes widened as she finally made out the shape- a cement slab that tended to sit in construction zones to protect workers.

How the hell did it get in the middle of the road there?

Pondering the object, Amity barely had a moment's warning before her legs were being swept out from under her and she was falling through the air. She hit the ground with a sharp thud, the air being forced out abruptly out of her lungs as she hit the asphalt. She caught sight of a dark object whipping towards her face and then there was nothing but darkness.

Closing the hood of the car with a metallic clang, Daryl was relieved that the vehicle seemed to be in fairly decent shape aside from the large dent in the front right side.

Whatever they had hit, they had grazed just enough to send them off course.

As Carol climbed back into the car, Daryl looked into the darkness in search of Amity.

The woman had went off only a few minutes before, but he was expecting her back by then.

Snatching up his crossbow, the hunter ghosted over the pavement as he headed in the direction that he had seen Amity go.

"Amity?" He called out softly, his deep voice carrying through the silent darkness.

He couldn't even hear her footsteps on the asphalt.

"Amity?" He said again, his heart beginning to thunder in his chest.

His back was turned from the vehicle they were in when he heard an engine start and the hunter whipped around just in time to see tail lights light up about a quarter of a mile up the road from where they had stopped.

The people who had taken Beth!

"Daryl!" Carol yelled from the car, obviously having spotted the vehicle too as it screeched away from them once more.

Seeing the car stopped so close to them left no doubts in Daryl's mind as to where Amity was or why something was in the middle of the road for them to hit.

Throwing himself into the driver's seat, Daryl started up their car once more.

"Where's Amity?" Carol asked from the back seat.

"They've got her." Daryl replied, his voice more strained sounding than what he would have liked.

"How do you know?" Carol questioned and the hunter pressed his lips together, grunting out something to serve as a response.

He just knew.

Amity was gone like how Beth was gone, but he wasn't just going to let her disappear.

She trusted him to always find her, she had said as much when she left with Maggie, Glenn, and Tara for their run.

He wasn't going to let her down.

* * *

"-following us."

Amity's entire body felt heavy as she struggled to move, the sound of unfamiliar voices floated around her.

"-out cold."

Her mouth was dry, her head was pounding with a fuzziness and pain that she couldn't fight off.

She was damn tired of being knocked out. It was becoming too common.

She supposed that she was lucky to be blessed with such a thick skull.

"-others. Their car had to be totaled."

Feeling a sharp prick in her arm, the sudden pain was enough to finally rouse the woman and her eyes flew open before watering at the sudden light.

Blinking rapidly, Amity cast her gaze around at the people gathered about and struggled to push herself up to sit.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy there, you're okay." A man said, his lab coat cluing her in to the fact that he must have been a doctor... or serving as one at least.

Her eyes flickered between the others in the room- some woman in scrubs, another in a police uniform along with a man in a police uniform at her side.

Doctors, nurses, and police?

Where the hell was she?

"What's your name?" The woman officer asked and Amity simply looked at her, debating how she could take everyone in the room with her head swimming as it was.

"Hey!" The male officer snapped, pulling Amity's attention to him. "She asked you a question."

"And I chose not to answer." Amity said back, her tone sharp.

"Listen here-" The officer began, the redhead swelling up to meet his anger despite how much she was hurting.

"Gorman, back off!" The female officer snapped, the authority in her voice letting Amity know who was running the show.

"Can you remember your name?" The female officer asked, turning her attention back to Amity once Gorman had retreated to the doorway, but not out of the room.

"Yes." Amity stated simply.

"And it is?"

Amity simply looked at her.

"Listen. You were knocked out cold in the middle of the road when my officers found you. The rotters would have had you in no time if they wouldn't have saved you. You _owe_ us." The woman told her and Amity considered her words.

It was bullshit. All of it.

Amity had been with Daryl and Carol, neither of them would have hurt her or left her so that left only the officers to have done so in the scenario.

That was something Amity knew for a fact, but perhaps it was in her best interest to pretend that it wasn't.

She forced her eyes to widen in shock, as if she hadn't understood what had happened to her.

"Y'all saved me?" She asked, receiving a nod in return from the female officer.

Amity caught the smug smile on Gorman's lips from the corner of her eye, but said nothing.

"I- thank you. I'm Amity. I'm sorry... you just can't trust just anyone anymore, you know?" She told those in the room with her, trying to play up that she was just a survivor by chance.

"Amity, I'm Dr. Steven Edwards. This is Officer Dawn Lerner." The doctor cut in to introduce.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Where am I?" Amity countered.

"Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta." The doctor informed her.

Amity felt her breath catch.

She was in _Atlanta_?

Being in the city was suicidal and she had no idea how all of these people had survived this long, but she was wanting to find out.

"A hospital?" She questioned and the doctor nodded.

"Do you remember what you were doing before we found you?" Dawn asked and Amity turned her blue eyes to her, hoping her expression looked confused enough to pass.

"I-I can't..." She let her voice trail off and the doctor reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"That's alright, Amity. That sometimes happens with the kind of head injury that you've sustained." He explained to her. "Can you remember anything about your past?"

"I'm Amity. I should be around 28 years old. I-I was a clinical psychologist, but then... then the dead started walking." She explained and Dawn looked at her with interest.

"You were a doctor?" She asked and Amity shook her head.

"Not a medical doctor persay, but a psychologist." She repeated her old career, hoping the clarification mattered.

"I'll get your bandages changed, we'll get you into some new clothes-" The doctor began, but Dawn cut him off.

"-then you can start helping out around here." The woman said. "Nothing in this life comes for free."

* * *

It was only a few minutes later when Amity found herself walking down the hallway at another female officer's side.

Shepard, her name tag read.

"What we have here is a system. Dawn runs point, we keep things going, the wards keep everyday things orderly, and we keep on living." Shepard explained.

Amity was only half-listening to the woman as her eyes darted all around her.

She took in every room, every door, and every face that they passed.

She heard a door slam and moments later Dawn appeared.

The officer strode down the hallway, stopping just in front of the pair and met Amity's eyes directly.

"You better learn your place around here and you better learn it fast." The woman snarled before shoving by Amity, sending the woman stumbling until Shepard righted her with a shake of her head, a look of displeasure on her face as she watched the head officer walk away.

It seemed that Amity had found a weak point in the system.

"Is she always like that?" Amity wondered and Shepard sighed before shrugging her shoulders.

"More or less. It's best to just keep your head down- you think you can do that?" Shepard asked Amity and the redhead met her eyes before turning to look at the doorway that Dawn had come from once it was opening again.

She had been ready to keep up the act, to duck her head and stay quiet and meek, but as a familiar blonde ponytail came into view, all of that went out the window.

Standing in the hallway, her blue eyes as wide as Amity's must have been, stood Beth Greene.

Seeing her with the stitched up cut on her face and the frailness of her underfed form, any thought of faking weakness went out the window as Amity's protective instincts reared their head.

"Amity." Beth whispered, shock clear in her pale face and the redhead nodded once, stepping forward and opening her arms for the blonde who seemed to only hesitate for a moment before running forward and throwing herself into them.

"I knew you weren't dead! Daryl-" Beth began, her voice no more than a whisper against Amity's cheek as she clutched her.

"I know. He found me." Amity told her and she felt the girl tremble in her hold though no tears fell from her eyes.

"That's so good. I can't believe you're here." Beth said, pulling away from Amity before the woman was honestly ready to let her go.

"You're here." Beth breathed out harshly, looking at Amity with wide eyes as they held one another at arms length and Amity's brows furrowed in response.

"You two know one another?" Shepard asked, suddenly pulling the two women's eyes to her as if they had forgotten she was there.

"What will it take?" Beth asked the officer, confusing both Amity and Shepard.

"What?" They asked at the same time.

Beth didn't even glance at her former mentor as she kept her eyes locked on the officer.

"For you not to tell anyone. What will it take?" Beth clarified, and while Amity was still lost, understanding seemed to dawn behind Shepard's eyes.

"Right now? Nothing. Later? You owe me." Shepard said and Beth nodded immediately before turning to Amity.

Catching the hint, Shepard excused herself and quickly strode down the hall away from them, only glancing back once before disappearing around the corner.

"Amity, you have to listen to me, okay? This place... it's bad. We're stuck here because we can never pay the debt we owe. The officers are corrupt, Dawn barely has everyone under control and she... Amity, we can't let them know that we know each other." Beth explained quickly, her voice fast and low.

"Beth, sweetheart, slow down, okay? We're not stuck here, Daryl's going to-" Amity began, trying to soothe the scared younger woman but Beth cut her off.

"You don't get it yet, but you will. Amity, just _trust_ _me_. Please, trust me. We don't know each other. You aren't a doctor and you haven't been bit." Beth instructed.

"They already know what I did before everything." Amity told the blonde, watching as her eyes clouded with stress and concern before she shook her head.

"We can work around that. Just- just trust me when I say this is a bad place." Beth pleaded and Amity nodded.

"Beth, I believe you. It's... we're going to be okay. We'll get out of here. I'll get us out." Amity said, wanting to reassure the girl the best she could but the sound of footsteps approaching had Beth pulling away from her.

"We don't know each other." Beth said firmly, as if to remind the redhead.

"There you are, new girl. Was wonderin' where you ran off to. Seems you found our resident candy girl." Gorman said as he came around the corner.

Amity wondered what exactly the man was getting at, but she schooled her expression into one of innocent confusion rather than suspicion.

"I just ran into... Beth, was it?" Amity explained, turning to Beth as if she needed confirmation of her name.

Beth nodded and Amity smiled softly in return before looking back to the officer.

"She was explaining where everything was for me." She finished and the officer wandered closer, his eyes on Beth in a way that made Amity want to shove his nose back into his skull right then and there.

Those roving eyes turned to Amity after a lecherous moment, the officer not even being shy about how they disregarded her face after noting her scar and dropped to her chest.

It took a lot of self-restraint to prevent her from lashing out at him.

"I'll finish Beth's tour for you and she can get back to work. How's that sound?" Gorman offered, holding his arm out towards Amity as if he had a gentlemanly bone in his body which was something Amity had suspicions against.

The redhead noted the fear and panic behind her young mentee's eyes and quickly smiled over at her, urging her to trust that Amity would be okay. Beth had to know that she could take care of herself.

Act or no act, Amity was never going to let another man put his hands on her in a way that she didn't deem fit ever again. She was tired of being attacked, of being taken advantage of, and no one was going to get as close as Jude once had.

Never again.

Taking Gorman's proffered arm, Amity bid Beth a quick good-bye and followed the officer down one of the long hallways.

As they walked, the man talked, his hand resting over Amity's that was against his arm as they moved.

"Nothing in life comes for free. We saved you, took you in, and now we're taking care of you- so you take care of us." Gorman was explaining, his words only really getting through the sieve that was Amity's attempt at ignoring him due to the way he had stopped in front of a room.

His words automatically put the woman on edge and she turned sharp blue eyes onto him, looking up at his face with a lack of fear that only came from finding herself in these situations time and time again.

The Governor humiliated and assaulted her and her best friend.

James was going to kill her.

Jude was going to rape her.

Gareth was going to eat her.

None of them had succeeded and Amity didn't owe the world, or anyone else, shit.

Seeing the resistance and the fire behind her eyes, Gorman's hand tightened its hold over her own.

"It doesn't have to be the hard way, girl." He told her, though the smirk on his lips told Amity he was hoping that it would be.

There was only a beat of silence before Amity was ripping her hand away from him, catching the officer off guard with her sudden ferocity, and as he reached for her again, she wasted no time before slamming one of her small fists into his gut.

He doubled over and Amity took her retreat, turning and running back down the hall and after only a few seconds, the sound of footsteps racing after her reached her ears.

She didn't slow as she passed by other officers or patients, the only time she slowed was when she heard Dawn snap out Gorman's name, and the chasing footsteps stopped.

Finding herself alone, Amity leaned against one of the walls as she caught her breath and tried to still her pounding heart.

She had to get out of there.

She had to get Beth out of there with her.

At this point, after seeing the amount of officers the place had, Amity wasn't even wanting Daryl to get in and potentially get hurt.

This rescue mission was up to her now.

* * *

A few hours later and Amity was being hauled into a maintenance closet by a pair of slender hands.

At first, the woman's reaction was to lash out, figuring it was Gorman come to give her her comeuppance, but as the person revealed herself to be Beth, Amity let herself relax with a huff of breath escaping through parted lips.

"Sorry." Beth apologized, catching onto the fact that she had startled her mentor.

"It's okay. It's fine." Amity reassured before leaning her ear against the door to make sure that no one was in the hallway outside of it.

Once she was positive they wouldn't be found, she turned back to Beth with a raised brow.

"We're getting out of here." Beth told her, and as the blonde filled her in about her and another ward's plan, Amity realized that she had worked herself nearly out of the equation that was Beth's survival in this world.

Her protege had taken to her lessons like a duck to water, and it seemed her time alone with Daryl had done her well too. Daryl had said as much, but seeing for herself was different than hearing about it secondhand.

Apparently though, Noah was a boy that had been in the hospital for a while and worked directly for Dawn. Beth had come to be fond of him and was sure that his strength and capability would be nothing but an asset to their escape attempts.

"It could work." Amity said with a slow nod after Beth had stopped talking and looked at her expectantly.

At her comment on the plan, the younger girl practically beamed.

"So you'll help us?" She asked.

"Of course I'll help you! I said that I was going to get you out of here, now it just seems that _you're_ going to be the one getting _me_ out." Amity said, smiling softly, but her mirth was soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the hall outside the closet.

Putting a finger to her lips, Amity requested that Beth stay silent and only after the footsteps had faded into the distance did she relax again.

"Do as planned when it comes to getting the key. Noah will keep Dawn busy and I'll make sure that Gorman isn't panting after you." Amity instructed.

"You don't need to do that. It's not-" Beth began but Amity cut her off.

"It's fine. I'll be fine. You just focus on doing what you need to do, Bethy. I can handle myself." She told the blonde firmly and waited until she received a nod of confirmation before turning to the door.

"And no more yanking me into supply closets." Amity scolded playfully, pleased to hear a small laugh from the younger woman before she stepped back into the hall and carried about her way like nothing had happened.

* * *

When it came to finding and watching Gorman, Amity realized that she would have loved to be doing anything else.

The man was incorrigible, insatiable, and the redhead ached to send him to hell where he belonged each and every time he made a pass at one of the female wards while he was supposed to be helping Dawn.

Eventually, the man moved on from his task. Apparently, he had grown bored with helping and instead took to wandering the halls.

Amity silently followed him, using every bit of what Daryl had taught her when it came to staying quiet to avoid being caught by him.

It was only once she turned a corner and realized that he was no longer in sight that she picked up her pace, less concerned about the noise she was making when she heard the shattering of glass and realized it had come from Dawn's office.

 _Beth_.

Sprinting to the office, Amity ripped the door open just in time to see the walker version of one of the wards tear into Gorman's throat.

Beth stood near the two bodies, her hands steady as she gripped a key and watched the scene in front of her.

"Good riddance." Amity said, snapping Beth out of her trance and having the young woman whip around to look at her with wide blue eyes.

"Come on. We need to get moving before someone finds this." Amity urged and Beth nodded, moving towards the door without so much as a backwards glance towards the massacre they were leaving behind.

Amity did the opposite and stepped further into the office, leaning down around the occupied walker that was ignoring her just as the others tended to while she grabbed the gun from Gorman's belt and stuffed it into her waistband and covering it with her shirt.

Strolling down the darkened corridors, Amity and Beth moved side-by-side, putting up a front against the hellish hospital around them.

Together, Amity was certain of their ability to handle this place, and with Noah at their side as well- they would be getting out.

"Beth?" Dawn called out as the pair approached the trio that consisted of her, another officer, and Noah.

The head officer eyed Beth closely, sparing Amity a moment's glance before looking once more at the blonde.

"Everything okay?" Dawn asked.

Beth looked at her wide-eyed, the expression almost moving Amity to speak, but she didn't need to as the youngest Greene nodded then seemed to find her voice.

"Joan was looking for you. I saw her and Gorman headed towards your office." Beth informed the woman and immediately Dawn nodded.

"Thank you, Beth." She replied, and both Amity and Beth answered her gratitude with a smile.

Once Dawn and her officer had disappeared, the trio of wards left behind exchanged a look and Amity quickly helped Noah collect the rope of random cloths that he had been crafting.

They rushed towards the elevator shaft, Amity taking the key from Beth and using it to quietly open the shaft as Noah tied the rope around the blonde woman.

"Once you're safe, we'll climb down." Noah told her.

"Once you're both safe, I'll climb down." Amity corrected, making it clear to the younger two that she wasn't going to take the chance of one of them falling behind and getting caught.

She was more than okay with the idea of covering their asses.

As much as she'd like to escape, it was more important to her that Noah and Beth did.

Noah opened his mouth as if he was going to argue, but a look from Beth had him reconsidering and instead, he handed the cloth rope to Amity so that they could both begin to help lower Beth into the elevator shaft.

Before they did so, Amity pulled the firearm from her belt and handed it to the younger woman while holding her gaze.

Beth was going to get out of there.

She had to.

Maggie needed her, Amity needed her. _Daryl_ needed her after all they had been through together.

Stepping forward, the redhead wrapped the woman she saw as a younger sister into a tight hug before she was forcing herself away so that they could get a move on.

Returning to Noah's side, Amity returned the boy's small smile before readying herself to do what they needed to do.

As they braced themselves along the wall, the cloth cutting into their palms while Beth was slowly being lowered down, Amity was suddenly taken back to the memory of doing something similar to this on Beth's family's farm.

She remembered helping to lower Glenn into one of the farm's wells while Maggie lamented about their group's insanity. She remembered Glenn's pride when he revealed that he had still gotten the rope around the water-logged walker though it didn't do much for them in the end.

"She's down." Amity whispered to Noah when they found slack on their end of the rope and the young man nodded in agreement.

"You're turn, Champ." The woman urged and Noah hesitated once more, but Amity didn't give him a chance to argue as she guided him over to the edge.

She would have lowered Noah down as they did Beth, but the chance of her dropping him was too high.

It was better to just let him climb down himself and once he was down, she'd follow so there would never be too much weight on their makeshift rope.

"Down you go." Amity muttered as she helped him over the edge, leaning down on her hands and knees to watch his descent.

He was almost to the bottom floor when a walker pushed its way through the closed doors of one of the levels, reaching out for the boy and sending him falling down the shaft.

"Noah!" Beth's voice echoed, her concern evident and Amity quickly leapt over the edge, holding onto the rope with everything she had as she shimmied her way down to join the younger pair.

As expected, the walkers at any of the elevator doors ignored her and as she leapt down on top of the pile of rotting corpses, Amity found that both Beth and Noah were already on their feet.

"Stay behind me. Gun up, Beth." Amity directed, immediately taking charge of the situation as she cast her eyes around for something to use as a weapon but came up short.

Her hands and feet would have to do.

They moved forward as quickly and quietly as they could, but it was no surprise to Amity that they were soon being overrun by walkers.

Beth fired off shots, protecting both herself and Noah as Amity threw down the walkers that she could and stomped their skulls with the heel of her boots.

She was thankful that she at least still had the heavy shoes even while donning scrubs.

Eventually, they made it to a door and Amity ushered the pair through it and out into the blinding sunlight ahead of her.

She turned, sending a hard kick into the chest of a walker that had been on their asses before ducking out the door as well and pulling it closed behind them.

The parking lot was a nightmare, and it was with a great heaviness in her chest that Amity noted the fact that Noah was barely limping along.

"Run to the gate!" Amity told the younger two, following them through one hole in the inner layer of fencing and doing her best to shove walkers aside to clear a path for them.

Noah ducked his way through the crowd, Beth hot on his heels, but the walkers were converging and Amity saw their chance for escape dwindling just before gunshots exploded from behind them.

Sparing the officers only a fraction of a glance, Amity screamed at Beth to keep running and keep running she did.

Amity now focused solely on making sure Beth made it to the fence where Noah waited, but as a heavy body slammed into hers, Amity was forced to turn her attention onto fighting off the officer that grappled to keep her hands pinned.

Swinging a leg around, Amity swept the legs out from under the body of the male officer, sending him to the ground just before another officer was pushing Amity down onto the asphalt chest first. Her arms were wrenched behind her back, and as she tilted her chin up to the sky, she caught sight of Beth's hands being bound as well.

"Let her go! Get off of her!" Amity yelled, struggling against the hold the officers now had on her.

"She doesn't owe you shit! No one owes anyone anything anymore!" She screamed, riling up the walkers around them and only causing more bullets to be used to put the undead down so they could tug the formerly escaping wards back into their white-walled prison.

"Let her go!"

Her angry and anguished yelling fell on deaf ears as Amity was pulled into the hospital and shoved into Dawn's office along with Beth.

Her only small sense of triumph came from the fact that Noah wasn't in there with them.

He had gotten out.

They could escape. They would just have to try again, harder next time.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Dawn hissed, getting close to Beth's face in a way that had Amity stepping forward, ready to intervene, but Beth held out a hand to stop her.

"He attacked me." Beth told the officer, her voice angry. "Just like he attacked Joan. Just like _you_ let him."

Dawn's face shifted and the side of Amity that urged her to do nothing more than protect Beth reared its head, but she stood still.

Amity had only been here for a day and so much had happened. Beth had been here since she was taken from Daryl.

This was her fight to have.

"You know what's happening here and you let it happen." Beth hissed.

"So that we make it!" Dawn said, trying to defend herself.

"No one's coming, Dawn! No one's coming." Beth gritted out through clenched teeth, trying to make the woman understand what those who survived outside of the safety of large communities had known for the past year. "We're all gonna die and you let this happen for _nothing_."

The blow to Beth's face came faster than Amity had been expecting and when the blonde didn't raise a hand to defend herself, Amity lunged forward and sent the female officer stumbling back with a harsh shove.

"You don't touch her!" Amity snapped, moving to defend herself as Dawn straightened back up.

"Who _are_ you?" Dawn asked sharply, her eyes narrowed as she took Amity in as if for the first time.

"Someone you're not going to push around, _Officer_." Amity replied, mocking the title and raising her hand to block the blow Dawn threw at her.

She countered by swinging herself, wanting nothing more than to punch the holier-than-thou bitch in the face, but as Dawn pulled out the gun at her waist, Amity froze.

She couldn't let herself get shot. She had to get Beth out still.

"Beth, leave us." Dawn demanded, but the blonde didn't move.

"Beth, go." Amity insisted, and after a beat of silence, she heard the door open and close behind her.

"Tell me who you are." Dawn said, breaking the quiet that had followed Beth's departure and Amity simply smiled.

"I'm someone who survived."

* * *

 **Hey, lovelies!**

 **Here's another chapter for y'all and I'm sorry that it took a bit longer to get up! My last semester of undergrad just started last week so I was busy busy!**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the story so far.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review with some helpful feedback, thoughts on what Amity and Beth are going to do next, what Daryl is going through, and just your opinions on everything! xx**


	43. Chapter 43

Seeing Amity hit the ground and Beth being grabbed by the officers of Grady Memorial was the beginning of the end for Noah.

The young man stood just outside the gates of the parking lot, his long fingers clutching the rungs of the fences as he watched the two women being restrained. Amity kicked and screamed, her ginger hair flying as she snarled like a feral cat while Beth simply looked at him with wide blue eyes.

"Noah! Run!" She yelled, but his feet felt cemented into place.

"Run, Noah! Please! Run!" Beth screamed and it was only the desperation in her tone that finally had him letting go of the fence.

His feet acted on their own volition now, carrying him away from the hellhole he had been trapped in since his father took his last breath.

He ran from the abuse that those hospital walls held. The beatings and the blackmail.

But it also felt like he was running away from his own fears and leaving those who had helped him behind.

He felt like he could still hear Beth and Amity's voices echoing in his ears even as he tore down an empty road, the distant sound of walkers keeping him moving.

Noah was _certain_ that he could never stop moving.

If he stopped moving then they would find him.

If he stopped moving then he wouldn't be able to find the things he needed to get Amity and Beth out.

He swore to himself that he would get them out.

He wasn't a coward, not anymore.

He wouldn't abandon them.

Noah ran until he found himself cornered in an alley by the small group of walkers that he had collected on his heels as he moved through the city streets.

Then, he jumped.

Strong hands clutched at the bottom-most rung of a metal ladder hanging from the fire escape above him, the young man thanked days of doing labor in Grady Memorial for the strength that he had to pull himself up.

That, and the snarling of the face-eating death machines below him that proved to be hell of a good motivator.

Gasping, Noah allowed himself a second to catch his breath once he was laid out on the relative safety of the old fire escape. The metal was rusted, it creaked under him with every breath, but for that moment it was supporting him.

Once his breaths evened out, the young man pushed himself carefully to his feet.

Looking down the alley, he noticed now that the sun was quickly making its way out of the sky.

He had no more time to linger.

He may not have been out of the hospital for a while, but he wasn't stupid enough to wander the streets of a major city at night with nothing but himself and his good intentions.

Slowly and carefully, Noah climbed up several more levels of the fire escape until he was only one floor from the top of the building.

Pausing, he realized that he had two options if he wanted to make it to the roof.

He could either try to balance on the railing of the fire escape and pull himself up over the edge, or he could go through the window next to him and face whatever that floor could possibly hold.

The silence as he thought it over was only broken by the noise of the walkers below.

Deciding that without weapons the potential of falling to his death was a risk worth taking, Noah braced one hand against the brick of the building and carefully placed his good foot on the metal railing.

The fire escape creaked, but held fast under the pressure he was putting on it. The soles of his sneaker held tight to the slippery metal, something that the young man was thankful for as he heaved himself up onto its thin bar.

Tilting to and fro, it took him a few moments to find his balance. He only let out a breath once he was a steady as he would get, his eyes staring straight forward at the back wall of the alley rather than down to the concrete where he would be landing if he fell.

Slowly, Noah reached up and felt around for the edge of the building's roof. His height was to his advantage as his fingers curled over the lip of the concrete edge. He methodically put his weight into the grip, making sure that he would hold fast before he decided that he had to just go for it.

With a powerful heave and a grunt of exertion, the young man found himself with one arm over the lip of the roof and the rest of his body dangling over empty space.

Bracing a sneaker against the bricks, it took another heave until Noah was mostly onto the roof.

Quickly, though gasping for air, he rose to his feet and thoroughly scoped out the new area that he had found himself in.

He couldn't take the chance of having pulled himself up into a horde then being caught sitting on his ass trying to catch his breath and slow down his heart rate.

It seemed that for once, however, someone was on his side as the roof of the building was blissfully clear.

Dusk had fallen and without the city lights, cars, and street lights that he was sure had once lit up the Atlanta skyline, Noah found himself squinting at the buildings around him in an attempt to see them in the darkness.

He noted a car garage a couple of blocks away. There was a bridge between the building it was attached to and the one next to it, the layout making it ideal as a place to scope out supplies since he wouldn't have to take to the streets between buildings.

If the cops of Grady Memorial were going to snag him, that's where they would do it- on the streets.

Making the decision to head there at first light, Noah wandered further towards the center of the roof.

He found a relatively bare spot by the side of an old air conditioning unit, and it was there that he decided to let himself catch some sleep.

It was dangerous, but he knew that he had to keep his energy up if he was going to hunt down weapons and save his friends.

Besides, no one in Grady would roam the streets at night.

Not that night.

* * *

The next morning came faster than Noah would have ever thought possible.

The sun was barely cresting the horizon when he rose, blinking away the bleariness of sleep and deciding that there was no point in wasting any time.

The young man made quicker work of getting off of the roof and back onto the fire escape than he had getting up.

Luckily, during the night the walkers that had been following him had decided to clear out.

He descended the ladder he had climbed the evening before and dropped the last few feet to the ground, hissing at the pain in his leg before quickly moving down the alleyway.

He had memorized a path over to the parking garage that morning, knowing that if anything happened, he couldn't afford to get turned around.

Relying on stealth alone, Noah found himself coming in a back entrance to the garage, opening the metal door to a flight of stairs.

After closing the door behind him, he paused to listen for walkers but none came from the flights of steps below him head so he followed them down.

Finding himself in a basement, Noah quickly cleared the bottom room before heading back out the way he had come in.

He went up the stairs and stopped at the platform that had the door he had come in through.

Now knowing that at least one area was clear, the young man decided to leave the basement and outside door as an escape route of sorts and crossed the small platform to the other door that he assumed would lead to the bottom floor of the parking garage.

Opening it, he found that his assumption was correct. He spotted a few cars littered throughout the garage and since the walkers on the street weren't interested in the quiet darkness of the garage, he decided that they would be a good place to begin looting.

Finding one car unlocked, Noah had begun digging through its backseat when he heard the sound of the walkers' snarls kick up a notch.

Crouching down, he turned dark eyes onto the road and spotted a fire that had his breath quickening.

Walkers didn't set fires. _Living_ _people_ set fires.

Staying hidden, the young man watched with bated breath as a dirty and rag-tag couple came running across the street, skirting around the distracted walkers.

The man of the pair didn't hesitate to take out a walker that had spotted them, sending an arrow flying from his crossbow into its skull.

Noah's eyes widened at the sight of his weapon and the rifle that hung from the woman's slight shoulders.

They had weapons.

Good weapons.

Weapons that Noah would need to save Beth and Amity.

Waiting for them to enter the building, Noah only rose once they had disappeared through the door.

With a stealth that even he didn't know he possessed, the young man carefully followed the pair.

He watched as they moved through the halls methodically. He noted their careful positions and quiet steps.

He followed their path and debated on where would be the best place to catch them off-guard.

When he stood on the other side of a glass window and watched the woman toss her pack and gun through the gap in a pair of doors that were mostly chained together before crawling through herself and the man following after her, Noah knew that it would have to be there.

The way he figured, they would come back through the way they had went in.

Securing an escape route at the end of the hall through another door, Noah found some chains and an unlocked lock. He knew that once he had their weapons, he only had a few moments to make his escape.

Quickly and quietly, he positioned himself on the other side of the chained double doors that he had seen them crawl through and sure enough, a few minutes later he heard approaching footsteps.

Hiding behind one of the doors, Noah waited quietly until a rifle was tossed through the gap just before a book bag followed.

Without hesitation, he snatched up the gun and directed it at the grey-haired woman who had now crawled through, moving back a few steps with her in its sights.

It seemed to take the woman a moment to notice him and once she did, she went to warn her companion but he was already halfway through the chained doors as well.

"Get up." Noah directed the dirty man, gesturing slightly with the gun.

"Hands up, both of you." He demanded, hoping that his voice was as steady as he was trying to make it. "Lay down your crossbow."

The man eyed him with irritation, but he wasn't as angry as Noah had expected him to be. He looked at Noah more like a nuisance than a threat.

He looked like he could have tore him limb from limb without breaking a sweat, but that was a risk that Noah had to take.

He needed their weapons.

"You got some sack on you." The man growled, but Noah made sure to keep his aim steady.

"Look, nobody has to get hurt. I just need weapons, that's it." He said, trying to keep the pleading out of his tone.

He had to get their weapons.

He had to save his friends.

"So, please, lay down your crossbow." He continued to direct and thankfully, the rough looking man did so, placing it near his feet.

"Back up." Noah added sharply, not trusting that the man wouldn't simply try to take him on hand-to-hand if he got close enough.

Once the couple had their backs against the doors, he moved forward and shouldered the crossbow.

Keeping up his tough facade, Noah clenched his jaw as he dedicated himself to carrying out the next phase of his plan.

The getaway.

"Sorry about this." He said, truly meaning it as he backed up a step and took his knife to one of the large tents that was placed in the hall.

Within them, there were a few snarling walkers who had died and gotten trapped inside while camping in the building.

They were crucial to buying Noah time to get away.

"You look tough. You'll be all right." He told them, not sure if he was convincing them or himself.

As quickly as he could, he took off limping down the hallway.

He wasn't surprised when the sound of a gunshot echoed behind him, but he was more than grateful when he didn't feel a bullet tearing through his flesh.

Once through the doors that he had the chain he had found hanging from, Noah quickly looped it around the handles and locked it with seconds to spare before he felt the weight of two bodies press against the now locked door.

Not sparing a moment to catch his breath, Noah pressed on.

He had weapons, now he just had to get a plan in place.

* * *

As it turned out, Noah's plan making wasn't going so hot.

He was one guy against a hospital full of cops and civilians who were being blackmailed and bullied into submission.

He didn't know how he was going to get back into the hospital, let alone how he would get himself and his friends back out.

All he knew was that he at least needed to get near the place again, so he found himself running.

Again.

His gate was slow, it was awkward and stilted, but it was more than nothing.

When he got to the lower city, he wasted no time in getting off the streets once more.

Unfortunately, now there were no fire escapes for him to scale, nor could he afford to do so.

Thanks to the couple he had found, he had weapons and he had a few supplies, but he wouldn't last much longer without more.

Flickering dark eyes down the street he was on, Noah chose a building at random and prayed to whoever was listening that he hadn't chosen wrong.

At first, the building seemed like a gift from above.

The young man found an old water cooler and chugged down more than his share of its contents, not caring about its plastic taste.

He refilled the canteen that he had taken from the couple along with their weapons and continued through the place.

It was only when he got on the higher floors that he began to run into some trouble.

The snarling of a walker gave him a few seconds warning before it appeared, reaching out for him with its usual undead hunger-driven vigor.

Raising the crossbow that he had figured out how to load earlier, Noah aimed and pressed the trigger.

Looking at his shot, the boy was distantly proud as the walker was now pinned to the wall by an arrow in its throat.

He had no time to dwell however, as the sound of groaning hadn't ceased.

Limping quickly down the hallway, Noah stepped to the side just in time to dodge a walker that had emerged from a side room and thrown itself at him, and also, just in time to see the woman from the couple that he had stolen from round the corner.

Fear pounded even faster through him at the realization that they must have been following him.

Using his forearm as leverage against the walker's chest, he spun the undead away from him and sent it stumbling towards her. With that diversion, he quickly pressed on.

Unfortunately, as per usual with his luck, he was met with the only door in the room being covered by a large bookshelf.

With a noise of exasperation, Noah quickly laid down the crossbow he had taken and gripped either side of the bookcase. Heaving, he was displeased to find just how heavy the solid piece of furniture was.

So focused on moving the shelves as quickly as possible, the young man didn't see the threatening owner of the crossbow until he had slammed into him.

Hitting the shelves, Noah fell to the floor and only had a second to try to regain his breath before the bookcase was tumbling down on top of him.

Snarls grew louder and he realized that the walker on the other side of the door he had been trying to get to was now pressing his way out through the crack it had made between the door and its frame, reaching towards where he was now trapped.

"Please." Noah gasped out, trying to wiggle himself free but to no avail. The weight across his chest, hips, and legs was too much.

The woman of the pair had now entered the room and though relieved to see she wasn't dead because of the walker he had thrown at her, Noah was in a panic.

Between watching them recollect their weapons and the walker reaching for him, he felt like he had made it to his end.

"I had to protect myself!" He defended his actions to the pair.

"Why you followin' us?" The man snarled and if Noah wasn't face-to-face with the prospect of death via walker, perhaps he would have flinched.

"I-I didn't, I swear!" He answered honestly, still trying to free himself. "I thought you followed me."

"Bullshit." The man growled.

Above him, the walker continued to snarl, but it didn't seem to phase the man in the leather vest now that he had his weapon back. He simply picked up a carton of cigarettes that had fallen on the floor and shook out a pack, taking a smoke from within it and dangling it from his lips.

"Come on, man." Noah pleaded, gritting his teeth against the pain of the pressure of the bookcase on his chest. The man simply flicked open a silver lighter, lighting up the cigarette between his lips.

"Please, _please_." He tried once more.

He had to get free.

He couldn't die like this.

Beth and Amity were still stuck.

They had gotten him out.

He couldn't leave them behind just to die like this.

"Nah, I already helped you once." The man drawled out. "It ain't happenin' again."

As the snarls of the walker grew louder, the man crouched down close to Noah's face.

The young man took in the sight of the other male, noting his black eye and dirty hair.

He wasn't lying before when he said he looked tough.

"Have fun with Hoss over there." He said and that simply made Noah struggle harder.

They were going to leave him.

He was going to die there.

"No." Noah stated, trying to make the man stop his retreat from the room. "No, no, no! Please! Please!"

Pushing up against the bookshelf with all of his strength, Noah tried to free himself but nothing was budging.

"Please! I'm sorry, please!" He cried out.

"Daryl." The woman's voice interrupted his begging.

Apparently, she was addressing the man who was walking away.

"Stop." At her command, both Daryl stopped walking away and Noah stopped his yelling.

"You almost died 'cause of him!" Daryl yelled, pointing at Noah who looked back at him with wide eyes.

"But I didn't." The short-haired woman pointed out.

The couple looked at one another for a long moment and Noah waited as patiently as he could as someone with a walker less than a foot away reaching for him.

"Nah, let him be." Daryl finally said, turning away once more.

"I'm sorry." Noah tried again, fear shooting through him at the sight of his only chance walking away. " _Please_ , I'm sorry!"

"Daryl!" The woman called again just as the walker finally pushed its way through the door.

The fear that Noah had felt before morphed into true terror as decayed hands grasped at his face.

He looked into the mouth of the walker and saw the end of his time being alive.

He wouldn't be getting back to Beth and Amity.

Their attempt at an escape was for nothing.

The walked leaned in and Noah was ready to say his good-byes but the sound of the crossbow interrupted him and the walker fell silent with an arrow through its skull.

Both Noah, and apparently, the woman were in shock for a few seconds after the walker was truly dead, but then she was moving forward and pulling its corpse off of the shelves just before the man lifted the piece of furniture.

With the pressure gone from his body, Noah scrambled out of the way of the heavy shelves so that the man could set it back down.

"Thank you. _Thank you_." Noah repeated, looking between them before rushing to his feet and limping over to the window.

His breaths came out as pants as he looked at the street below, expecting to see cars marked by white crosses pulling down them at any moment.

"I gotta go. I gotta go." He muttered to himself. "They're gonna come. They probably heard the shot. If they find me-"

His rant was interrupted by Daryl, the rough looking archer, who stepped a bit closer.

"Who?" He asked, voice gruff and eyes narrowed.

"Them, people at the hospital." Noah explained.

In a burst of motion, the man was moving towards him and Noah was stumbling back.

"Wait, wait, wait, just tell us- Is there a blonde girl there? You see a blonde girl?" He asked and Noah felt his heart stop for a second, his eyes wide as he looked at this scary ass man glaring him down.

"Beth?" He asked, sounding as shocked as he felt. "You know her?"

He looked between the couple and saw the shock clear on their faces as well.

They definitely knew her.

Did they know Amity?

They didn't mention her.

"She helped me get out, her and another woman, but they're still there." He explained further.

He watched the shock in Daryl's eyes turn into something a bit more manic, more desperate, and the front of his shirt was being grabbed again.

"Another woman? She a redhead? Blue eyes?" He asked quickly and Noah nodded wildly.

"Amity. Her name's Amity. She was brought in a day or two ago with a head injury. She helped us get out, she was trying to keep them off of Beth but-" His rambling explaination was cut off by the woman at the window.

"They're coming." She stated, looking down at the street below before turning towards where Noah stood, still in front of the man who had been hanging onto his every word.

"We gotta go now." Noah told them, pulling free of his hold to lead the way towards the door.

"The building next door has a basement. It's clear. We'll be safe." Noah directed once they made it to the lobby of the building, knowing as much due to the way he had come in.

He pushed himself into the best run he could muster, only to stumble when his bad leg gave out from under him.

The man stopped next to him, hooking a hand under his arm to pull him to his feet.

Together, they headed towards the doors that the woman had just went through and came to them just in time to see a car send her flying.

The vehicle screeched to a stop after hitting her, two of the cops from Grady emerging to approach her still form, and Noah turned to grab Daryl just before he threw himself at them.

He knew what the man was thinking, what he was feeling, but he also knew that the woman had to be hurt.

Grady Memorial was a hellhole, but it was a hellhole with a doctor and medicine.

"Wait, wait, wait!" He told Daryl, wrestling him back out of sight.

"Let go of me!" The archer snarled.

"Wait! They can help her." Noah insisted. "They're the only ones who can. They have medicine, machines, a doctor. You go out there, you'll have to kill them, okay? And then she can't get their help. Is that what you want?"

He felt the man begin to calm as he accepted the sense in Noah's words.

The young man knew that he was going to have to make good on his next words, and he knew that he would do everything to do so.

"We can get her back." He stated firmly. "We can get Beth back. We can get Amity back."

Once Carol was loaded onto a gurney and the car had pulled away, Noah let the man go.

"What's it gonna take?" Daryl asked.

"A lot." Noah admitted, panting as he tried to catch his breath. "They got guns, people."

"So do we."

With that knowledge, Noah committed himself to following the archer.

He was quickly learning that the man was way more than he had seemed. Tough had been an understatement.

Plus, he seemed to have even more of a drive than Noah did to get Beth and Amity out of Grady Memorial, not to mention now with the addition of his woman friend.

Noah helped him to set a fire in a dumpster when they came across an alleyway that they needed to cross which was, of course, full of walkers. He wasn't willing to be dead weight, so he kept up with the man the best that he could.

With surprising ease, the pair found a large box truck that was still able to run.

After everything he had gone through the find seemed almost too easy, but Noah was going to question it.

They were on the road, and apparently heading towards Daryl's people. Towards the people that Beth had spoken about, people like Amity- or least so he hoped.

All he could do was hope.

* * *

 **Hey, babes!**

 **I know it's been a hot minute, but with university and all, I've been more than a little busy! Nonetheless, apologies are in order- so SORRY! I really appreciate everyone who is reading and all the reviews that I've been getting!**

 **In the meantime, please continue to read and review! Reviews let me know what you're wanting to see in the future and how you're feeling about things now!**

 **I know this chapter was a shorter one, but it was a different perspective that I needed to get back in the groove so I hoped you enjoyed it!**

 **There will be more coming your way soon so keep a look out!**

 **Lots of exclamation points in this author's note!**

 **xx**


	44. Chapter 44

There was about a twenty minute walk ahead of them when the box truck's fuel finally ran out.

Daryl supposed that they were lucky it had gotten them at least that far, but it wasn't ideal that they were now going to be stumbling around in the dark.

Waiting for Noah to join him at the front of the truck, Daryl took in the kid's limp for a moment before nodding towards the trees.

"We're gonna have to hoof it for the last stretch. Keep quiet, ears and eyes open." He directed, trying to push away the memories of repeating the same words to Beth time and time again when they were out on their own.

The kid nodded in response, his wide eyes betraying his nerves, but Daryl didn't mind his fear.

He was young and this world was hell. There wasn't a soul alive that wasn't afraid anymore.

Shit like that kept you running.

The pair were quiet as Daryl lead the way through the woods, only slowing his pace slightly so that his companion could keep up.

In all honesty, Noah was doing better than most who had tried to keep up with him in the woods, let alone at night.

"Were you with Beth and Amity for a long time?" Noah asked after a while of them walking, his voice low and quiet.

Daryl grunted in reply, the sound indifferent, but with the way that he had reacted upon learning that Noah knew them, the young man figured it had to be the case.

Nonetheless, Noah took the hint that the man wasn't wanting to speak and kept his mouth shut until Daryl was motioning for him to get down.

"What are we-" He began but the hunter cut him off.

"Stay here 'til I tell you to come out." Daryl directed and Noah nodded after only a spilt second of hesitation.

He had to trust the man now. He had to trust him and his people, Beth's people, and know that they were going to help.

After receiving confirmation, Daryl quietly stalked towards where he had spotted the church.

As leaves rustled around his calves, the brushing against the bush being intentional so that he wouldn't be springing up unexpectedly on whoever was on watch, Daryl waited until a shadowed figure was moving his direction.

Upon further inspection, he discovered that it was Michonne who was approaching and once she recognized him a smile pulled at her lips until she realized that there was no one behind him.

"Where's Amity? Carol?" She asked, her voice holding her concern.

Blue eyes dropping out of the shame that he felt for being the only one that came back out of the three, Daryl took a moment to collect himself before looking back towards where he had left the kid.

"Alright, come on out." He called over and only a brief moment later, Noah came limping from the shadows of the forest.

Michonne looked at the boy with something that Daryl couldn't quite read before turning her eyes to him.

"Come on. We need to get inside. You both... a lot must have happened." She said, nodding back towards the church and Daryl nodded, not having it in him to argue.

After seeing that the archer was following the woman's suggestion, Noah was quick to do the same despite the fact that spending the night in a church unnerved him.

Climbing the steps, dread filled Daryl and once he stepped through the threshold and watched as people around the room slowly began to take notice of him, he steeled himself for their reactions.

Michael was on his feet first.

The man's boots clacking on the wooden floor of the church as he all but ran towards the hunter.

"Where the hell did you go?" He asked, his voice a mix of relieved and angry, but as Noah entered the room behind Daryl and no one else followed, he stilled.

Watching the confusion and anguish begin to slip into his friend's gaze, Daryl took a hesitant step towards him.

"They're alive." He said, though he couldn't be 100% sure that was the case, it was something he believed.

"Where are they?" Bandit asked, the Marine having followed behind Michael with less haste.

His expression betrayed nothing as Daryl glanced over at him.

Merle rounded the edge of one side of the pews and came to a stop by his brother, looking at everyone who was gathering around him with narrowed eyes.

"Let the man breathe for a damn second!" He snapped, immediately defensive of his family though he had questions piling up in his mind as well.

Daryl didn't let Merle's words of warning shelter him from the reactions that he deserved upon arriving back at the church alone. Instead he looked back at Noah, gesturing the boy forward as he peered around Michael's large form to find the eyes of Rick.

"We've got to go to Atlanta." He announced firmly.

* * *

After recounting all that had happened and introducing Noah to the group, Daryl laid down on one of the pews under the guise of getting sleep that never ended up coming to him.

He was grateful for the next morning and the labor that it brought as they all set about fortifying the church so that they could go into Atlanta to retrieve their people without leaving the place totally unarmed.

He helped take the large pipes from the organ, sticking them into the ground outside of the church's front steps as a barrier for walkers to have to get through if they approached the place.

As he worked, he kept an eye on Noah. The boy was more than pulling his weight around the place, and it was needed with the glaring loss of some of their members.

Daryl hadn't been surprised when he returned and found Abraham and his people gone, but what had surprised him was that they had taken not only Tara, but Glenn and Maggie with them as well.

Amity was going to be devastated when she got back and her friends were gone.

The hunter was holding on to the knowledge that Amity was going to come back.

As Michael passed him with multiple pipes in his arms, Daryl debated on whether or not to speak to the man, but Michael's shake of his head made the decision for him.

Daryl had known the eldest Walker long enough by that point to know that he wasn't the angry sort, but it was clear the man wasn't handling not having Carol and Amity around and frankly, not a soul alive could blame him.

He remembered what it was like to be without both Amity and his brother, and that was when everything had been blown to shit all at once. Now, Michael was having to deal with having reunited with everyone just for them to disappear once more with only Daryl to come back to tell him about it.

Daryl was sure that he would have been tearing someone's head off it was him, but that wasn't Michael's style.

Instead, he worked himself hard and fast to get everything ready so that they could leave.

Daryl desperately wanted to get moving as well.

The sound of an engine had everyone outside of the church turning, catching sight of a box truck coming up the drive. At the sight of it, Daryl relaxed the sudden tension in his body as the truck was familiar to him.

"It's just Bandit coming back with our ride." He called over to where Rick and Michonne stood, reassuring them so that everyone would continue working.

An hour later and everyone was loading up.

Daryl sat in the passenger seat of the truck, his thumbnail caught between his teeth as he tried to keep a strong hold on the distress that was coursing through him.

He felt jittery and yearned to be the one behind the wheel of the truck instead of Rick.

"We're going to get 'em back." Rick said, glancing over at his friend as he drove.

His words clued the hunter on to the fact that he may not have been hiding his feelings on the matter as well as he had thought.

In reality, Rick just knew the man he considered a brother better than most.

"Shouldn't have been taken in the first place." Daryl said, shaking his head as his hand dropped from his mouth.

"That's not on you." Rick said firmly, knowing the man's habit of self-blame.

"Took both of 'em right out from under me." Daryl argued, but still Rick shook his head.

"You can't blame yourself for the actions of bad people around you, brother." The former sheriff said, making the turn that Daryl gestured for him to take. "You just have to do what you can in the face of it."

* * *

A metallic tang clung to Amity's tongue, most likely due to how she kept running it over her split lip.

The woman had half a mind to take one of the many sharp objects around the hospital and run the fearless leader of the hospital through with it, but after showing all of her cards during the escape and after, Amity had to play it smart.

Her and Beth were still stuck there for now, so they had to focus on surviving that.

A sudden burst of activity at the end of one of the halls had the redhead stepping to one side in hopes of getting out of the way of the rushing gurney and cops pushing it, but her eyes stayed glued to the activity.

Grady Memorial had a new victim to blackmail into staying it seemed.

Looking at the gurney as it went past, Amity felt her heart drop into her feet at the sight of the familiar figure on it.

 _Carol._

Sucking in a breath, the woman took a second to focus on making sure that she didn't look as terrified and shocked as she felt.

No one could know that she knew Carol.

Not now, not after the escape.

With Amity having shown up and being from Beth's past group, another member coming in as well would have the place in full lockdown as it would seem like they were trying to take it over or break them out.

Was that what they were trying to do?

Amity wasn't sure if she was hoping for them to be or not, but upon seeing Carol she realized that she had no idea what Daryl was up to now.

He could have been dead in Atlanta.

He could have been killed by the cops because he looked as threatening as someone could get, or he could still be out in the city alone.

Worry for her significant other had Amity's hands trembling, but she pushed that feeling away.

She had to find Beth.

They had a plan to make.

* * *

Once the group that consisted of Daryl, Rick, Sasha, Tyreese, Michael, Bandit, and Noah was in the city, Daryl and Noah led the group to a spot that they decided would be safe enough to hunker down and make a plan.

They settled for a large hollowed out building that had signs informing them that it had once served as a FEMA shelter.

"At sundown we fire a shot into the air, get two of them out on patrol, then once it's dark enough that the rooftop spotter won't see us, we go." Rick said, laying out the plan he had created. "We cut the locks on one of the stairways, take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out."

"How?" Tyreese questioned.

"He slits his throat." Rick replied simply though he sensed the unease. "This is all about us doing this quiet, keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us."

After watching Tyreese for a moment more, the former sheriff continued.

"From there, we fan out. Knives and silenced weapons. We need to be fast. Tyreese, Sasha, and Michael take them. Daryl and Bandit, you take care of whoever is in the kitchen. I got Dawn. If they're smart, the rest of them will give up, then it'll be seven on three. Nine on three once we get a weapon to Beth and Amity."

"Fifteen on three. The wards will help." Noah interjected.

"That's best case. What's worst case?" Tyreese asked, looking between them all. "All it takes is one of those cops going down the hall at the wrong time, then it's not quiet. All hands on deck. We're talking about a lot of bullets flying around."

"If that's what it takes." Sasha said.

"It's not." Tyreese argued. "If we get a few of her cops alive out here, we do an even trade. Theirs for ours. Everybody goes home."

"Yeah, I get it. And it might work." Rick reasoned, before gesturing to the map of their plan that he had sketched out on the dirty floor. "This _will_ work."

"Nah, that'll work, too." Daryl said suddenly, drawing all eyes to him.

"You say this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together, right?" The hunter asked Noah.

"Trying and doing are two different things." The younger boy replied.

"You take a few of her cops away, what choices does she have?" Daryl reasoned. "Everybody goes home. Like he says."

Michael nodded his head once though Rick's eyes stayed trained on his right hand man. If there was anyone that Rick was going to listen to, it was Daryl, but that didn't mean that the man wasn't going to support the idea that he thought would work out the cleanest.

Bandit, on the other hand, stood a step or so back from the rest of the group. His eyes jumped between each person as he considered both the plans and those who would be carrying them out.

For years, the Marine had worked in a team, but the end of times had made him used to relying on himself. Plus, both before and after the Outbreak, he was used to being in charge.

Now, he settled for listening and keeping his mouth shut. If something was going to go wrong, he would speak out and fix it, but until then, he saw no reason to involve himself in the political moral decisions of the group.

He just wanted to get his friend back.

* * *

When Amity finally tracked down Beth, the blonde was striding quickly down the hallway. To anyone else, perhaps she would have looked natural, but to Amity she looked like she was up to something.

"Beth!" Amity called out from behind her, watching as the younger woman jumped, whipping around with wide blue eyes before relaxing as she recognized her friend.

"Amity, don't do that! You scared me!" She admonished, her voice a terse whisper as she grabbed the redhead's arm and tugged her off to one of the side rooms.

"Sorry, but I've been looking for you. Carol is-" Amity began, but was cut off.

"In here, injured. Yeah, I know." Beth said quickly before holding up a key.

"Dawn gave me a key to the pharmacy. One of the cops was complaining about Carol being a waste of resources so she took her off of all the machines." She continued.

"Shit." Amity cursed, pressing her palm to her forehead in an attempt of stabilizing her racing thoughts.

"We've got to do something." Beth insisted and Amity nodded once before heading towards the doorway.

Leaning through the threshold, the woman looked up and down the hallway before nodding Beth forward.

"Go to the pharmacy, I'll work on keeping everyone around here distracted." Amity told the younger woman, who stopped next to her, looking at her with confusion.

"How are you going to do that?" She asked and the redhead pressed her lips together, thinking it through before shrugging one slender shoulder.

"I'll figure it out." Amity reasoned.

"What meds do I even need to get her?" Beth asked and that had the former psychologist pausing. Despite how many times she lamented that she wasn't a medical doctor, it didn't stop her from wishing she was in times like this.

"I don't have a damn clue." She admitted and the blonde at her side nodded knowingly.

"Don't worry. I'll figure it out." Beth said and now it was Amity's turn to look at her with confusion but there was no time to waste and Beth seemed to recognize that as she made her way out of the room and down the hall.

Sucking in a breath, Amity watched her go before shaking her head to herself.

"Time to make some noise." She said to the empty hallway, a smile tugging at her lips as she began to walk towards the nurse's station on that floor.

* * *

Daryl stood at Rick's side as they waited for Noah to pull of his part in their plan.

He was tense, crouched next to the boxes they were hiding behind as he listened closely to the fairly silent city around them.

They had shot off a couple of rounds a few minutes before and now were just waiting for a response.

The screech of tires had the man shifting forward onto his toes, ready to rise when needed or if they heard the kid cry out.

Things could go south for the guy quick, but Noah had assured them that they would want him back unharmed.

A few shots popped off assumedly from Noah's gun and Daryl barely peered over the edge of the boxes as Noah limped into view and a police car came screeching after him.

Once it had stopped, two officers stepped out and trained their guns on Noah, calling for him to put down his weapon.

Daryl watched the two closely, noting the way that they handled the younger guy with less roughness than he would have assumed.

As one of the officers began to look at the space around them, Daryl knew it was time to move and barely a half a second later, Rick was signalling as much.

"Where are those rotters you were shooting at?" The officer asked Noah and as their group came out from around the boxes with their weapons trained on the two police, Daryl whistled sharply to gain their attention.

"Hands." Rick directed the two.

"What do you want?" The female officer asked.

"Whatever this is, we can help." Her partner attempted to soothe.

"You do what we say, we don't hurt you." Rick told them and after a moment, the male officer stepped forward with his gun held submissively, moving to set it on the asphalt.

Daryl's sharp eyes followed their every move.

"Good, now turn around. Put your guns on the floor and kneel." Rick directed and the two did as told.

Once they were kneeling and their weapons were on the ground, Bandit moved forward to quickly and easily collect them as Daryl and Sasha bound their wrists.

"We need to talk." Rick told them. "There's water if you need some, and food."

"Mind if I ask you something?" The male officer asked even as Daryl yanked him roughly to his feet.

The pair may not have man-handled Noah, but Daryl felt no amount of softness towards the people who were a part of taking every important woman in his life away.

Rick rounded the back of the group, approaching the officer with suspicion in his eyes as he nodded for him to ask away.

"The way you talk the way you carry yourself- were you a cop?"

Upon receiving no verbal answer, the man let out what was almost a breathy chuckle, apparently knowing the answer anyways.

"Believe it or not, I was, too." He said, shaking his head.

"That's Lamson." Noah told the former sheriff, leaning in as Rick stared down the officer. "He'll be down for this. He's one of the good ones."

No one had a chance to comment on Noah's words before the sound of tires squealing reached their ears.

Bandit was one of the first to whip around, him peppering bullets into the windshield of the car that was tearing towards them, but it wasn't stopping.

Leaping back out of the way, the Marine drug Sasha back a couple of steps with him, making sure that she didn't get run down before letting her go so that they both could lay down fire as their hostages piled into the car and the driver shot at them through the passenger window.

As the car took off once more, the group followed and it was Sasha who had gotten a shot on one of the tires that actually gave them the chance to recover their hostages and make it the three that they needed.

Rounding the corner, the group hesitated at the sight of melted walkers that covered the pavement.

Breathing through his mouth, Daryl stalked forward to take the lead with Rick.

As they approached the vehicle that was now stopped in the parking lot, the doors opened and they spotted the two officers they had grabbed earlier trying to make an escape on foot.

"Two, on me." Rick directed, sending the group racing after them.

Daryl was more than ready to hunt down the pair, but as he ran, the sound of something in the parking lot had him pausing, blue eyes scanning the area around him.

He was alone in his search, everyone else following Rick's lead while he followed his gut.

The driver hadn't ran off with the other two.

Daryl ghosted over the hot pavement towards the abandoned car, carefully peering inside but not finding a trace of anyone.

The noise had came from somewhere though.

Taking a few careful steps back, he turned his attention on the gutted trailer that had most of its walls burnt away but its door still intact.

Taking advantage of the missing walls, Daryl got the best look into the thing that he could before he settled for having to open the door.

He did so methodically like he did when clearing houses on the road, and upon seeing nothing, he moved back to close the door before being slammed to the ground.

He had found the driver.

Struggling to kick him off of him, Daryl grunted with effort as the officer pinned him, his former training shining through but Daryl wasn't one to give in.

As the other man fixed his hands around his throat, cutting off most of his air intake while simultaneously putting him face-to-face with one of the melted walkers stuck to the asphalt, Daryl struggled against his grasp, his hand reaching out wildly for something to use as a weapon.

His fingertips came into contact with slick rotting skin before hitting the sharp edge of teeth. Yanking his hand back, Daryl tried for the walker's head again as a grotesque idea came into his head.

Digging his fingers into the eye sockets of the walker as if it was a damn bowling ball, Daryl used the hold to pull with all of the effort he could muster and thankfully, separated the walker's skull from its neck.

With a grunt of exertion, he slammed the skull up against his assailant's head, stunning him before hitting him once more.

What had the officer climbing completely off of him and to his knees, however, was the silenced shot that Rick had fired towards him.

"Okay." The officer said, holding his hands up. "You win, asshole."

However, Rick wasn't moving. He stood steady, his gun still trained at the man's head.

Seeing this, Daryl attempted to push himself to his feet.

"Rick. Rick!" He called out, trying to get his friend's attention as the officer stood as well.

"Rick, we need three to make it even. Three is better than two." Daryl reasoned.

Rick's eyes turned to Daryl, staring him down for a moment before nodding and that was all the direction that Daryl needed to tie up their new hostage and drag him to where the rest of the group was waiting with their original two.

Noah and Rick went ahead into the building to continue with their planning as the rest of the group got their hostages watered and patted down before taking them up as well.

As they walked, Daryl found himself leading the group with Michael at his side.

"Your friend, what's his name?" The female officer questioned, but Daryl didn't even look back at her.

"I need to talk to him. Your plan is going to get me and my friends killed." She insisted.

"We're gonna make it work." Sasha told her flatly.

"It would work if you had different cops to trade." The woman countered, catching Daryl's attention then.

He stopped the group's movement, turning to stare down the woman as he stalked back towards them.

It seemed that the woman realized that she had only that moment to make her case to them.

"Dawn's running Grady into the ground." She began to explain. "A bunch of us want her out and she knows it. Pretty sure she knows we want Lamson to replace her, too."

"Dawn doesn't know that." The asshole officer that choked him said.

"She might." The female officer said sharply. "And she's smart. So there's a good chance you can't make this deal work and that'll leave us all dead. But if you let us go, we'll take care of Dawn ourselves and then we'll let your friends go and this is over."

"No, we're not gonna do that." Lamson cut in, looking at the ground as he spoke.

"Do you want to die?" His partner asked in return.

"No, I just need you to shut up right now." He said simply and if the woman's face was anything to go by, she was not happy with that response.

"You can make this work." Lamson continued after a moment. "But you've got to be able to talk to her."

"Noah told us all about her." Sasha sneered, but her attitude didn't phase the man.

"I've known her for eight years, ma'am." He told her, before looking between them all. "I know this woman. And my only interest is peaceful resolution, not dying, and sleeping in my bed tonight. So, please, let me help you. _Please_."

He directed his last words at Daryl, apparently catching on to the fact that he was the right hand man around the place.

The group as a whole considered the officers in front of them, Michael turning to exchange a look with Tyreese as Bandit shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Hey, Rick." Daryl said finally, turning to look over at their leader and motioning him over. "You're gonna want to hear this."

* * *

Being a distraction was a role that Amity felt she was born for.

She was more than capable when it came to being dramatic, and she was more than a little bit loud.

Walking down the main corridor of the hospital, Amity glanced around to make sure that there were more than a few cops and orderlies around before simply collapsing.

As she crumbled, a few people rushed to her side, but it was only once she seemed to wake up and began flailing, her breaths coming out short and strained, that she gathered the attention of practically everyone in the area.

She kept people close, grabbing shirts and gasping that she couldn't breathe.

She would have been awarded an Oscar in the old world, she was sure of it.

It was only once she spotted Beth coming down the hall, her pockets fuller than they had been when she had talked to her before, that she calmed down her act.

She slowed her breathing, making a show of regaining her breath and calming down.

She claimed a panic attack, thanking those around her for their assistance before being 'helped' to her feet and booking it back down the hall.

There was no need to linger now that their plan had been carried out.

Making sure no one was following her, Amity headed towards the room that Carol was being kept in and paused just inside the door at the sight of Beth standing by the older woman's bed, holding her hand.

"Carol, it's Beth." The blonde said softly, giving the limp hand a gentle squeeze. "I just wanted you to know that I was here."

"We both are." Amity added, startling Beth slightly but once she realized it was her, she was offered a small smile.

"We both are." Beth repeated, confirming the statement before gently putting down Carol's hand.

With the woman treated and hopefully healing, both Amity and Beth left the room.

They had other things to handle now.


	45. Chapter 45

It only took a couple of hours for things to escalate beyond what any of the group had ever wanted them to.

All they wanted was their people back.

All Daryl wanted was to see his friends and his woman again, but the son of a bitch ran.

Lamson knocked Sasha out and took off, but Rick was hot on his heels.

The former sheriff had said he was going to bring the runaway officer back, but Daryl had his doubts.

Rick was his best friend, his brother, and he would stand by the man until the very end, but he wasn't sure he could trust him to bring anyone outside of their group back alive.

Not anymore.

Definitely not right then.

They needed three to make the trade.

One for Beth, one for Carol, and one for Amity.

Daryl had a sickening feeling, one that was only furthered by the sound of a gunshot ringing through the air outside, that they were going to be short on their trade.

The reappearance of Rick with no one at his side had Daryl exchanging a look with Michael before moving to meet their leader, following him a few paces away from the group so that they wouldn't be overheard.

"He wouldn't stop." Rick said and Daryl had to take a moment, holding back the scoff that wanted to pass his lips in response to the other's explanation.

To be honest, Daryl was nearing the end of his hold on his anger, an anger that was more than likely born out of the panic that was building in his chest.

Amity had been taken from him again.

Right under his nose.

He didn't deserve the woman.

He couldn't even keep her in his sight, let alone _safe._ But, there was nothing that was going to stop him from getting her back.

"This change things?" He asked once he was finally sure that nothing crueler would pass his lips.

"It has to." Rick replied immediately.

"Maybe not."

"She said the plan won't work. The guy who did is dead." Rick reasoned. "Maybe we gotta rethink this."

Shaking his head, Daryl grasped at straws.

He needed this to work.

It _had_ to work.

"They also said the cop in charge didn't have any love for him." Daryl pointed out. "Maybe you did her a favor."

"I don't know if they'll play ball." Rick said.

"Let's find out." Daryl prompted, and with a nod of the leader's head towards the group, both men turned to approach them.

Daryl's eyes immediately went to the two cops that they had bound to chairs, their eyes knowing.

"He was a good man." The female cop said as they stopped a few paces away.

Her voice was steady, but her eyes stayed trained on the concrete floor.

"He was attacked by rotters. Saw it go down." She told them slowly.

"Huh." Rick hummed, her words obviously not being expected. "You're a damn good liar.

"We're hanging by a thread here." She reasoned. "He was attacked by rotters. That's the story."

"Ya said the trade was a bad idea." Daryl cut in, not being able to hold back his suspicion over her sudden cooperation. "What changed?"

"Lamson was our shot." She replied. "So it's this or you go in guns blazing, right? You don't want that."

"If this is some bullshit you're spinning and things go south-" Daryl growled but the woman cut over him.

"I know." She said firmly. "I know the good ones from the bad. Let us help you."

Rick seemed to consider her words for a moment before rounding on the male officer at her side- the one that had nearly killed Daryl.

"What about you?" He asked him harshly. "You wanna live? How much?"

"Dawn's afraid she'll look weak in front of us." The man began after a moment of simply staring up at Rick. "Thinks it'll tip things against her. Hell, it will. She'll see this trade as a rip-off if she thinks you took out one of our guys."

He let his words hang for a moment, long enough that Daryl shifted on the balls of his feet while Bandit contemplated slipping out of the large building and going at it alone.

If he could get in and out with Amity, and with the other two women that he knew the redhead wouldn't leave behind, then there would be no point to the political bullshit that they were discussing.

However, Bandit wasn't stupid. He had been working amongst a team for years before the Outbreak and he knew that pulling a hero move often led to a worse outcome than anything else.

"So it's a good thing Lamson got aced by rotters." The male officer stated.

He was on board.

A wave of relief swept through Daryl despite the fact that they were a person short.

That was something that hopefully could be overlooked amongst the high tensions of the trade.

Surely their head officer in charge, this Dawn, wouldn't want to turn an exchange into a fire fight.

Looking to Rick now, Daryl gave his friend a small nod.

If they were all on board, just maybe this shit show would be resolved.

* * *

The long hallways of the hospital were haunting.

They made Amity jumpy, reminding her of the veterinary school that they had taken meds from just before they were driven out of the prison by the homicidal mad man that was the Governor.

Just like that place, she was well aware that the many doorways that lined the corridor could hold dangers waiting to snag her as she passed.

"You and Beth are close." A voice stated from behind her, coming from one of the doorways that she had just walked past.

Stopping in her tracks, Amity looked over her shoulder and caught sight of the sole doctor of the place looking at her with cautious but curious eyes.

"We are." Amity confirmed, feeling no obligation to hide as much ever since they had tried to escape together.

"Do you know her from... before?" He asked.

His inquiries made Amity wary of him even though he seemed harmless enough.

She questioned the motives behind his curiosity, behind his interest in Beth.

Amity didn't trust anyone in the hospital farther than she could throw them.

"No, we met after." She replied briskly.

"How?" He questioned without missing a beat, but Amity let a length of silence stretch between them.

"What's your game?" She asked finally, voice sharp as she fully turned towards the man and took a step in his direction that was meant as a warning.

The doctor held up his hands in surrender, apparently trying to appear as non-threatening as possible in face of the on-edge woman.

"There's no game." He said.

"Then why the questions?" Amity asked.

"Can I not be curious about you? You show up and this place is thrown into chaos. Wards try to escape, Beth ends up hurt, another woman shows up that the two of you-" He began, but within seconds Amity was in front of him and her sudden proximity had the rest of his sentence dying in his throat.

"What do you know about that?" She hissed.

"That Beth got medicine for her. Epinephrine drip, five milligrams."

His words were of no comfort to Amity, but at least she knew where Beth's sudden medical knowledge had come from.

"I don't know what your angle is, and don't bother saying that you don't have one, everyone in this damned world has one-" Amity began, cutting off his argument before he even had the chance to voice it. "-But know this, if you even think about interfering in us keeping that woman alive, or if you think about stopping all of us from getting out of here, then know that not even the protection that M.D. of yours affords you will be able to keep you safe."

Still in his face, Amity's weight rested on the balls of her feet as she growled her threat.

"Good." She said after only a second's pause though the doctor had said nothing in response.

He didn't need to.

She could see his fear, his compliance, in every line of his body.

She could see the cowardice that was the most primal form of self-preservation behind his eyes as he looked down at her.

Perhaps Amity wasn't proud of her snarled threat, but she was satisified with it.

If it kept Carol and Beth safe, if it meant that they had a better chance of getting out of the godforsaken hospital, then it was well worth it.

When Amity finally found the younger blonde once more, it was in one of the busier halls.

She came up behind her, fingertips brushing over her shoulder to alert her to her presence as she followed her blue eyes to the scene happening further down the corridor.

"No, Percy, tell me. Should I use smaller words?" A male officer yelled at one of the other civilians in the place, an older man that Amity knew to be a rather kind guy who tended to keep his head down.

"Is the directive fix the hole in my sleeve too complicated for you?" The officer asked loudly, causing Percy to flinch and look at the ground.

"I'm sorry. I forgot." Percy stuttered out.

"Well, here's an idea- don't forget!" With that, the officer shoved the man and Amity found herself stepping forward.

The officer spotted the movement, his eyes turning to narrow at her.

"What about you?" He asked harshly.

"What? You want to pick on someone who can defend themselves now?" Amity asked him, watching the shock in his eyes at her aggressive tone.

"You think that you can-" The officer began angrily, but the arrival of Dawn cut him off.

"I need her." Dawn said, striding past him towards Amity and Beth. "I need them both. Sorry, we have a lot of work to do."

With that said, Dawn tugged on Amity's elbow in order to lead her away from the confrontation.

Once out of the man's sight, she released her hold on the redhead but the two women quickly squared up to one another.

"You need to mind your place around here. I'm not always going to come out and fix things." Dawn snapped.

"I don't need you to fix shit! This kind of thing shouldn't be happening in the first place!" Amity spat in return. "If you weren't running some trigger happy powerhouse of egotistical fuckheads then maybe this place wouldn't be about to fall down around you!"

A sharp pain flared in Amity's face as her head was thrown to the side, the metallic taste in her mouth only doubling as she ran her tongue over her now split lip.

She found her temper flaring uncontrollably, the blow incensing her but she bit back the part of her mind that was snarling for her to strangle the other woman and instead looked at her pointedly.

She wouldn't have hit her if what she was saying hadn't been the truth.

Amity knew that. Beth, who was now trying to keep the peace between them, knew that.

Most importantly, _Dawn_ knew that.

"How long are you going to pretend that you control this place?" Amity asked, her voice low, but she wasn't expecting an answer.

They all knew what they knew and Amity took her leave before her carefully controlled temper snapped.

"Come on, Beth." She heard Dawn say behind her.

* * *

Sitting on the floor in Carol's room was an empty comfort.

It was being with the group she so desperately missed without truly being with them.

Through Carol, Amity was standing with Daryl, with her brother and Maggie and Rick. She was leaning against Bandit and laughing with Carl while rolling her eyes at Merle. She was teasing Glenn while Michonne smirked and Sasha shook her head, Tyreese watching them all.

But they weren't there and Carol hadn't woken up.

A small flood of light flowed into the room as the door was pushed open and Amity looked over to see Beth slipping into the space.

The blonde was visibly shaken, her blue eyes wide and on instinct, Amity began to scramble to her feet but Beth's gentle hands pressed her back down.

Without a word, the younger woman fell to the floor next to her, her arms going around the redhead's torso and without hesitation, Amity crushed her to her chest.

There were no words exchanged between them as they sat, clutching onto one another, but there were no tears shed either.

They needed the closeness of the other just like Amity had needed the closeness of Carol.

They were each other's rocks in the terrible place that was Grady Memorial.

It wasn't long until Dawn joined them, sliding into the room even under Amity's hard gaze.

"It's okay to cry." The woman said, her words obviously directed at Beth.

The blonde pulled slightly out of Amity's hold, sitting up straighter though she still stayed tucked into the redheaded woman's side.

Amity felt a conversation coming on that she wasn't a part of, but she pressed her lips together and said nothing.

She had been in full-on momma bear mode since she found Beth, but she also knew as the woman who had trained her that Beth could handle herself.

"I don't cry anymore." Beth said, her voice hard.

"I do." Dawn replied, pouring a small cup of liquor from a flask she had and offering it out to Beth. "I just don't let them see it."

She held the glass out for a moment longer, but Beth didn't look at her while Amity simply stared blankly for a moment before looking towards the youngest Greene.

"It's from my own stash." Dawn said, trying to make peace apparently. "There's no strings."

"I know now why you covered for me." Beth spoke up. "You weren't protecting me. You were protecting yourself."

"Is that so?" Dawn asked.

"Gorman, Jeffries, O'Donnell they were problems for you- and now they're not." Beth said. "And you didn't have to do the dirty work. That's how things get done here. Everyone uses people to get what they want. You're not the ones who have to remember."

Amity watched Beth as she spoke, sensing the years that had been added onto the young girl's shoulders.

In this new world, they had all seen things that they shouldn't have had to see. They had all done things that they shouldn't have had to do.

Amity's mind was drawn back to the man in the bar, skewered through the heart by one of her arrows. To the injured woman who had died on a bed on the farm. To Jude, whose blood had been splattered on her as he fell dead to the ground.

She didn't want to think about what Beth had seen and done since being separated from Daryl, but she knew that she could no longer protect anyone from the horrors of the world.

You either faced them and grew from them, or you didn't and they ate you from the inside out.

"Is that what happened with Edwards and Trevitt? He used you?" Dawn asked Beth.

"I'm gonna get out." Beth said in return. "Just like Noah."

"He'll be back." Dawn stated.

Amity bristled at that, blue eyes narrowing at the woman.

"He's gone." She hissed.

"He's going home." Beth added just as hotly.

"They always come back." Dawn said cooly. "They don't ever get far because they can't, but really they don't want to."

"He's going home." Beth repeated.

"I was like you when I was younger." Dawn sighed. "Nobody could tell me anything."

Shaking her head, the officer continued.

"I'm not stupid." She told them. "You know her- you both do- and somehow you all wound up here. Maybe that means something."

"Beth, you can be a part of this thing." Dawn told the blonde, her eyes flickering to Amity. "Both of you. All three of you. This is important. Maybe the most important thing you do in your life- and what you did back there..."

Dawn trailed off and Amity stiffened, her mind racing as she listened to the exchange, trying to understand what had gone down.

She knew that Beth had done something, seemingly something to protect Dawn, and that something had taken a toll on her.

"Gorman and O'Donnell hurt people." Dawn said and pieces clicked into place in Amity's mind. "The world didn't lose anything when they died and you're wrong about what happened."

"I didn't use you." She insisted. "And I will remember."

Dawn's emotional moment had Amity's distrust of the woman increasing even as her sound hatred for her wavered.

The female officer was unpredictable, though it seemed that Beth had her pegged.

Amity had to remember to ask Beth about what had happened once they were alone, not only that, but about how they could get around the enigma that was Dawn.

As she considered the exchange that had just happened, her eyes caught a flicker of movement to Dawn's left where she had been sat on the bed and she couldn't stop the relieved smile that came to her lips as Carol's eyes opened.

They searched around blankly for a moment, the woman obviously confused until they landed on Beth and Amity side-by-side on the floor and widened considerably.

"About time you joined the party." Amity told her, voice soft as she shifted to rise to her feet.

"Welcome to the land of the living." Dawn cut in, stopping Amity from saying anything more to her friend. "You were knocked out and injured when my officers found you. The rotters would have had you in no time if they wouldn't have saved you. This is Grady Memorial Hospital- we saved your life."

* * *

Atlanta heat was in full swing when Daryl found himself standing near the edge of the rooftop with Sasha sandwiched between himself and Bandit, all of their scopes trained on the ground below them.

As a cop car came rolling into view, Daryl raised a hand and snapped his fingers, alerting Tyreese to the arrival of more officers so that the man could relay the information to Rick.

Daryl held steady as the cops climbed out of the car, their weapons pointed at Rick who had approached them.

They all knew the gist of what their leader was going to say.

He was going to offer up a trade, two of their officers for three of their people.

An uneven trade sweetened by the fact that their officers were useful while their women were being told as anything but, no matter how far from reality that may have been.

A walker stumbled into sight and they all let it get within a few yards of the officers before Sasha sent a bullet through its rotting skull, letting them know that Rick was covered, but also stopping the undead from distracting the officers too much.

It felt like an eternity before a decision had been made and Daryl was leading the way down to where Rick stood waiting with the officers.

At the sight of the group, the two officers, Franco and McGinley, exchanged a look.

Daryl knew that they looked like the kind of people you didn't want to fuck with, and he was sure that the officers weren't going to.

Bandit was less sure.

He approached the two men with the aura of the high command that he had held in what often felt like another life.

He looked down on them with hard eyes and tight lips, a warning held behind his gaze even as he simply stepped past them, following along behind his group.

If they tried to pull something, he would take them out.

He just hoped that they wouldn't for the sake of getting their people back.

For getting Amity back.

They were lead to where their people were all but captive.

The sight of the hospital sent a shiver down Michael's spine, goosebumps raising along his arms.

The dilapidated building probably wasn't the most comforting of sights even when it had been maintained, but with all of the former trauma within its walls plus everything that was happening within it now, it was unsettling.

They followed the officers into a dark corridor, not hesitating as they pushed along their hostages as insurance for their trade.

* * *

In the hospital, Amity tugged her _'Cherry's'_ tanktop on over her head for the first time since she had found herself in Grady Memorial.

Dawn had said that people had come for them, that a 'Rick Grimes' had proposed a deal that she couldn't refuse.

The sound of her friend's name and the knowledge that Carol provided about her and Daryl finding Noah warmed her from the inside out.

They were leaving.

Their people had come for them.

A knock on the door had Amity making sure she was sorted, her pants tucked securely into her boots before she went to the door and pulled it open to see Beth wearing a dirty polo on the other side.

"Yellow's your color." Amity told her with a gentle smile that was returned along with a roll of her eyes.

Together, they collected Carol, Amity pushed her along in a wheelchair since Beth's arm was still casted.

The doctor was their shadow, but that didn't bother Amity even as the tension in the hospital seemed to increase tenfold.

It was a dangerous exchange, Amity knew that, but she wanted to be with her family so desperately that even that knowledge couldn't sober her good mood.

It didn't stop her from being on edge, however, and the scalpel in her boot gently poked her ankle with every step.

Approaching a wall of officers, Dawn at the head, Amity stopped just behind the line and grasped Beth's free hand as Carol reached back to do the same.

They stood in solidarity, watching as Rick peered through the window of a set of double doors down the hall which were the only things separating them.

"Holster your weapons." Dawn said into her walkie.

After a few moments, the doors were finally pulled open and Amity had to refrain from giving any reaction to the sight of the people that walked through.

Dawn gestured them forward and Amity pushed Carol, making sure that Beth was at her side as they stopped at the front of the officers.

Daryl's eyes immediately found hers and Amity read the relief and guilt behind them as plain as day before they shifted to Beth and Carol.

"They haven't been harmed." Rick announced, the group stopping a good way away from the officers though the two unbound officers that were with their people approached.

"Where's Lamson?" Dawn asked.

"Rotters got him." Shepard answered, Amity finding that odd even as the captive male officer added, "We saw it go down."

"Oh." Dawn replied, her tone putting Amity on edge. "I'm sorry to hear that. He was one of the good guys."

After the odd condolences were said, Dawn seemed to harden further.

"One of yours for one of mine." She announced and Rick nodded.

"Alright."

Daryl stalked forward with his hostage, the male officer, and though reluctant, Amity let an officer take the wheelchair from her hands to push Carol out to the center to be exchanged.

The hunter's eyes had held hers even as he took ahold of the wheelchair, and Amity only relaxed slightly once Carol was in Daryl's hands.

That meant she was safe.

She was wheeled behind the group and to a waiting Michael who smoothed a large hand down her face, gently reassuring himself of her wellbeing before tucking her away and turning to watch the rest of the exchange.

He had to ensure that his sister was alright as well.

Next, Dawn reached for Amity's arm but the woman took a step back out of her reach.

"You'll take Beth first." She said.

She wasn't stupid. She could count and the exchange wasn't even. She had realized that the moment the other two officers had approached.

Dawn held her gaze for a moment before taking Beth's elbow and leading her towards Rick who was guiding Shepard along.

Beth was passed to Rick, the man embracing her for a moment, and Amity was filled with heady relief at seeing the younger girl safe with their people.

"Glad we could work things out." Dawn said, but Rick wasn't moving to leave.

There was more to their deal.

He glanced over the woman's shoulder, eyes on Amity before they went back to Dawn.

"Yeah." Rick said with a nod. "But we had an agreement."

"That we did." Dawn agreed. "I just need Noah and then you can take Amity and leave."

"That wasn't part of the deal." Daryl snarled from where he was stood with Beth and Noah, paces behind Rick.

His heart was thundering in his chest, but Amity's continue along at a steady pace.

She had known this was how this was going to turn out.

That's why she had sent Beth along first.

Dawn would have wanted the young Greene girl over Amity any day, but she couldn't argue before she showed her final hand.

"Noah was my ward." Dawn told them firmly. "Beth took his place and I'm losing her, so I need him back."

"Ma'am, please, it's not-" Shepard began, but Dawn cut her off.

"Shepherd!" She snapped. "My officers put their lives on the line to find him. One of them died."

"No, he ain't staying." Daryl rasped out as he firmly pushed Noah back a step and stalked forward, anger coursing through him. "And you ain't keepin' her."

"Daryl-" Amity said, resigned to the situation.

She didn't want this to turn into a bloodbath.

She would get out eventually, but it wouldn't be that day.

It wouldn't be with them.

"He's one of mine. You have no claim on him." Dawn told them.

"The boy wants to go home, so you have no claim on him." Rick said sharply, his voice ringing through the corridor.

"Well, then we don't have a deal." Dawn replied.

"The deal is done. She's coming with us!" Rick snapped.

"It's okay." Noah said, hobbling forward.

"No." Rick told the boy, Amity's voice overlapping his as she said the same.

"Noah, you go." Amity called out, her words a command but the young man just turned to Rick.

"I got to do it." Noah told the leader, pulling a gun from his waistband and handing it over to him as Beth moved closer.

"It's not okay." The blonde said, her voice quiet and broken.

"It's settled." Dawn stated and at that, an officer pushed Amity forward.

The redhead stumbled a step while Beth's voice called out to Noah before she wrapped him tightly in a hug.

"I knew you'd be back." Dawn said to the young man as they embraced.

Amity watched as Beth's eyes widened over Noah's shoulder and she moved forward more quickly then, a heavy feeling settling in her stomach.

"I get it now." Beth whispered as she squared up to the female officer.

Noah passed Amity, the woman reaching out to grab his wrist just as the unthinkable occurred.

There wasn't time to react as Beth drove a pair of scissors deep into the curve of Dawn's shoulder, a gunshot going off directly after.

Amity couldn't process what she was seeing.

The blood splattering the hallway as a bullet tore through Beth's skull.

 _Beth's_ skull.

Beth.

She was...

"I didn't mean to-" Dawn's voice rang in Amity's ears before the officer's head slung back with the force of the bullet ripping through it, shot from Daryl's gun as the man gasped for air.

Guns were drawn rapidly, the reaction automatic in the new world but Shepard yelled for order.

"No! Hold your fire!" She commanded. "It's over."

"It was just about her." The officer reasoned. "Stand down."

Amity's grip on Noah's wrist had to be painful, but she couldn't find it in her to let go and the boy wasn't pulling away.

Her blue eyes were wide, unseeing, as she stared at the massacre in front of her.

Carol had stood, had moved forward to where Daryl still had his gun pointed at the officers, but everyone else was still.

Daryl was breathing hard, the barely suppressed sobs that escaped him finally snapping Amity back to reality and her knees gave out from under her.

Linoleum wasn't a soft impact for her kneecaps but she was trembling so hard that standing would have been impossible any longer, but then Noah's arm was under her armpits and she was halfway back on her feet, leaning into him as a sound of despair finally passed her lips.

"No!" She cried out, the word to late to stop anything.

What had been done had been done.

" _No_!"

Noah clutched her against him, as a sob tore through her.

She wasn't supposed to cry anymore.

 _I don't cry anymore._

"No!" It was a denial of reality, of the girl dead on the floor in front of her because of a woman that Amity had every opportunity to take care of.

She pushed herself from Noah's arms, the young man still trying to grab her, to keep her from throwing herself back down on the floor where she was now kneeling in the spreading puddle of blood as she reached out for the girl that she had tried to get out of the hellhole that she ended up dying in.

Her protégé.

She had taught her to fight, taught her not to fear anything, and when Beth had stabbed the passive leader of such a cruel place, she had feared _nothing_.

Trembling hands ghosted over Beth's still form, not touching her.

There were words exchanged around her as she sobbed, strong arms finally pulling her to her feet once more despite how hard she tried to fight them off.

Michael crushed her to his chest as Daryl finally found the strength within him to kneel and lift Beth's body from the hospital floor.

Half-dragged, Amity found herself outside without any memory of how she had gotten there.

The only thing that brought her back into reality, something that she was quickly fading in and out of, was an agonized scream.

She watched as Maggie crumpled, Daryl approaching her with Beth's body held limply in his arms.

Stumbling away from her brother, Amity went for her best friend, for the woman that was like a sister to her just as Beth had been.

She fell heavily to the ground next to her, uncaring of the biting pavement as she reached out for the woman who clutched onto her arms, screaming sobs ripping through her as silent ones fell from Amity.

Amity could never share Maggie's pain, she wasn't truly Beth's sister. She hadn't been there for the years of the blonde girl's life before the new hellhole of a world, but she was the closest one to feeling the distinct loss that she felt and that was recognized.

They gripped one another, reminding Amity of the death grip Beth had clutched her in on the floor of Carol's hospital room.

Amity never got to ask her what had shaken her that night.

As Maggie sobbed against Amity's shoulder, her hands grasping wildly in search of some relief from the agony she felt in her chest, Amity looked to the sky.

* * *

 **This hurt me to write.**

 **Leave your thoughts on this chapter (and the story so far) in a review.**


	46. Chapter 46

Every step tore a piece from Amity's chest, from her state of mind.

Every roll of her foot from the ball of her toe to her heel had her wondering if the numbness she felt would ever fade.

It had been five long days since they hauled their asses out of Atlanta.

It had been four days since they had buried Beth within a small grove of trees, the silence from some of the group as loud as other's sobs as Gabriel spoke a few words over her grave.

It had been five days since Amity could last remember feeling like she had a say in what went on in the world around her.

Five days, but nothing was getting easier.

The group was focused solely on survival at that point.

Survival and getting Noah to Richmond, Virginia.

A destination that held the hope that everyone else needed to keep moving forward.

They were all together again with one destination in mind and it turned out that they were going to stay that way.

Even through the sorrow and numbness, Amity had been informed about Maggie, Glenn, and Tara's temporary departure with Abraham and his crew. She had been informed of Eugene's lies.

She didn't even feel the satisfaction that should have blossomed in her chest over being right.

She wished that she had been wrong.

She wished for a purpose as strong as a potential stronghold with hopes for a cure.

Picking at the sleeveless shirt that hung far too loosely on her slender frame, Amity could remember the dark red stains that had coated her last one.

The tank top had been peeled from her torso by Daryl's rough hands while she simply watched him do so.

She saw the pain in his eyes as he looked at the blood and she yearned to do something to take it away, but she was powerless.

She hadn't gotten Beth safely out of Grady Memorial.

There wasn't a damn thing that she could do in this world.

Now she sat between Glenn and Bandit.

The Marine had taken to shadowing her steps wherever it was she decided to go. It seemed that Amity's capture had shaken Bandit and perhaps he thought that if she was out of his sight for more than a few seconds that she would disappear again.

No one was that lucky.

Amity didn't discourage Bandit from her side though, nor did she embrace his presence.

Her former shadow stared at the floor of the van as they sped their way down the road, his long hair falling to cover his Georgia blue eyes.

Amity couldn't take the blankness of the inside of the van anymore and rose to her feet.

Bandit's eyes followed her as she found her way into the passenger's seat, Michael vacating it without a word so that she could lean against the window and watch the landscape pass by in a blur, but Daryl didn't even look up.

Amity couldn't feel the motivation to continue nor the press to survive, but she did see her family around her. She felt Michael's hand on top of her head anytime he moved by her. She caught Rick's concerned glances and the squeeze of Maggie's hand on her own.

Amity knew that Carol had spoken to the group about what she had witnessed of GMH, but she didn't know the half of it.

No one did but her, Beth, and Noah.

Now it was just Noah and Amity.

Together, they all pushed on.

* * *

On the twelfth day of their trek to Virginia, Amity found herself beside a small fire as the pure darkness that the nights now held pressed in on the makeshift camp around them.

She wasn't sure who made the fire nor who had directed her over to it, but she was there nonetheless.

At her side sat Maggie.

Much like she had been, the woman was moving through day to day actions with the rest of the group.

She was surviving.

Amity could see the worry behind Glenn's eyes when he looked at his wife.

Everyone was worried.

Using a slender stick, Amity jabbed the tip into the embers of the fire. She watched them shift, glowing red as new oxygen reached them before dying back down again.

The end of her stick began to char, the fire eating up the wood and holding Amity's blank attention.

It wasn't until a hand closed over the top of hers that she realized the fire was climbing closer to her fingertips.

Looking up, the redhead watched as Maggie pulled the stick from her hand and tossed it fully into the flames.

Green met blue and Amity wrapped her arms snugly around herself under her friend's gaze.

* * *

When they finally made it close to the community that Noah had told them about, there was a division in the ranks.

Being back on the road had made the group all the better at surviving the new world.

They knew how to divvy up jobs, how to go about searching for food and finding shelter.

That was why all of them knew even before Rick spoke that they would not all be going into the community.

Rick going was obvious, which meant it was obvious that Daryl was to stay back with the rest.

The knowledge that Noah would be going and leading the way into the place had Amity raising a hand when Rick's eyes began to scan over each and every one of them as he thought about who he would pick.

"No."

Daryl's gruff voice broke the relative quiet of the group, pulling all eyes to the couple that was separated by several feet of open space.

Amity didn't even glance at the hunter who hadn't looked at her for days. She kept her eyes on Rick.

"I'm good for this one. My bow's quiet, I'm quick." Amity reasoned, defending her plea to go. "Rick, you know I'm good for it."

"I said no." Daryl snapped, moving towards the redhead with a scowl on his face.

As he approached, Amity turned to meet him head-on.

She felt like they were back in the quarry, at each other's throats once more.

"I don't remember you being the one to make my decisions." Amity hissed in return.

She knew they were causing a bit of a scene, that was made obvious by the uncomfortable shifting of Glenn and Tara's wide eyes as she looked between them, but she couldn't be bothered to care.

For the first time in a while, she _felt_ something. She was _angry_.

"I think it'd be best if you stayed." Michael intervened, not backing down as Amity turned her glare onto him.

"I second that," Abraham spoke up and Amity actually considered if she could take the redhead down before anyone intervened, but Rosita's close watch on her had her deciding that she couldn't.

"Stay here with me. Someone's got to watch out for these fuckers." Bandit muttered from her side, leaning down so that his words were only heard by her ears.

He was the only one suggesting instead of telling.

"They think they got shit on lockdown but..." The Marine trailed off and Amity nodded her head.

She knew that his words were true even if they were geared to making her stay back from the scouting mission.

"Fine." She said simply and Rick nodded, seemingly relieved that he wasn't going to be the final say on whether she stayed or went.

It only took a few more minutes for the going group to be decided.

Amity leaned against the van as she watched Rick, Michonne, Michael, Tyreese, Glenn, and Noah load up.

The car pulled away and the rest of the group was left behind in silence.

"We need to set a perimeter." Bandit spoke up, breaking the silence as his heavy hand rest on Amity's shoulder.

* * *

The sun was climbing higher in the sky and Amity felt the group's uneasiness like a fog around them.

None of them liked being separated and they were all handling it differently.

Abraham sat at the edge of the group, his weapon held aloft in his hands as his eyes scanned the trees.

Daryl stood on the top of their vehicle, taking the constant high ground while his brother leaned against the side of the car.

Sasha sat on the ground, leaning back against one of the tires with her gun resting on her lap.

Eugene was reorganizing supplies with Tara, the two of them chatting quietly.

Well, really it was Tara doing the talking while Eugene nodded along.

Rosita stood on the opposite side of the car as Abraham, watching the trees much like the redhead was.

Carol perched herself on the hood of their vehicle, a walkie held in her hands.

Bandit was somewhere amongst the trees. He had set up a secure perimeter and was doing his regular check of it.

Amity, she was watching Maggie.

The brunette stood alone more than a few paces away from any other member of their group.

Her face was tilted up towards the sky, her eyes closed while the sun glared down at her face.

She had been standing in that position for longer than Amity would consider reasonable so the redhead took the initiative and pushed herself to her feet.

She may not have been coping too well herself, but she wouldn't leave her friend to suffer alone.

"Maggie." She said softly as she approached.

Hearing her name, the woman slowly opened her eyes and looked over at her.

Their gazes met and held for a long moment before Maggie was looking away and Amity was sighing.

The two women's support for one another was unyielding.

Amity found herself in Maggie's company more often than not, but it seemed that neither of them knew what to say to one another when left alone in silence.

What could either of them possibly say?

Amity yearned to ask the ridiculous question, 'are you alright?' but she was well aware of just how stupid that inquiry was.

She wasn't alright.

None of them were, not anymore, but they were still standing.

That had to be enough.

Maggie turned away from Amity after the silence between them persisted and headed towards where Tara and Eugene were working.

Sighing as she watched her leave, Amity wondered just how long it would take for her to recall how to talk to people in sensitive situations like the one they were in.

The touch of a hand on her shoulder had the redhead jumping slightly in place. She had been so far in her own head that she hadn't heard anyone approach.

With her heart pounding wildly, she turned and discerned that it was just Bandit who had approached her.

"Can you not do that?" She requested and to her chagrin, the man smiled.

"Getting slow, Bambi," He taunted, obviously trying to get a rise out of her.

His eyes were fixated on her face, scanning it as if searching for something.

Amity raised a brow at him.

"Just looking for that smile I used to know." He explained, immediately pulling a scoff from her.

"There's not much to smile about anymore, don't you think?" She said bitterly.

"That's debatable. I think there's plenty left to smile about." Bandit replied simply.

"You're being-" Amity began but Bandit cut her off.

"Insensitive?" He finished, a small smile on his lips. "I think you're forgetting that I know what this is like. I've felt what you're feeling, what Maggie's feeling. I lost my brother. He was right in front of me and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to save him."

Amity pressed her lips together, dropping her eyes from his as she was reminded.

"Letting my life stop when his did... now that would be spitting on his memory." Bandit told her.

"When we met you were hiding out alone in a tiny cabin." Amity pointed out. "Is that what you consider living?"

"No." Bandit said almost immediately.

Amity looked back to him, trying to decode the look behind his dark eyes.

"But then you showed up. I found you, you say that I saved you, but you... you saved me." He told her, his voice low and genuine.

The conversation was quiet, just between the two of them now as they stood near the center of the makeshift camp.

"You were bright and alive and you had hope." He continued. "I needed that. You showed me hope and I latched onto that like a fucking leech and for some reason, you didn't send me away."

"You were helping me. You wanted to find everyone." Amity whispered in return and Bandit nodded.

"I did want to help you, but it wasn't as self-sacrificing as it seemed." He said. "I needed you around. Your optimism, it kept me afloat."

Amity could barely believe what she was hearing no matter how much sense it made. She never understood why Bandit had been so willing to just up and help her find her family.

But, it stunned her that a man like Bandit, so confident and powerful, could say that _she_ had saved _him_. Especially after how he had quite literally saved her from Jude and Kipp.

It shocked a lot of perspective back into her life.

"So when I say that there is plenty to smile about, I mean it. I'm still here and living and so are you. That's enough." Bandit finished with a stern nod.

He held her eyes until Amity suddenly threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his hard waist and simply hugging him for a long moment.

"I can't promise anything." She said muttered against his chest, knowing that he would be able to hear her. "I can't guarantee that I'm going to be able to be like that again... so _blindly_ optimistic and hopeful. But smiling again... I can try."

"That's enough," Bandit told her, his thick arms wrapping around her shoulders as he returned her embrace.

Over her head he noticed two pairs of narrowed eyes watching them and resisted the urge to scowl.

From where he was stood, Daryl had seen the exchange between the pair though he couldn't hear what was said. There was no doubt by the look on his face that Merle hadn't seen as well.

Now Daryl watched as the Marine hugged Amity, the woman showing true emotion outside of anger and agony for the first time since Atlanta.

He should've been happy, seeing that she was starting to come back to herself, but in reality, he was just upset.

He was angry at himself for not being the one to help bring her back.

He was pissed that he couldn't just approach her like Bandit had and know what to say in order to help her.

He was upset that he couldn't just hug her in front of everyone and tell her it'd be okay.

Daryl wasn't a man that could do that. He didn't understand how to and when Amity was in her right mind, she didn't need him to.

But now she needed it and he wasn't there- Bandit was.

Jumping down from the top of the car, the hunter growled an excuse about hunting out to Merle as he passed him, his sights set on the woods.

When Rick got back with any news of the community, he'd be around, but until then he wasn't about to just stand by and watch another guy be the man that he should've been.


	47. Chapter 47

Tyreese was dead on arrival.

Again, Amity found herself standing under a nice willow tree next to a hole in the ground and a small mound of dirt that would be used to fill it.

One day, that would be all that was left of any of them- an old pile of dirt.

When Rick's panicked voice had come over the walkie, the small group left behind had lept into action.

Bandit drug Sasha away, the young woman fighting him tooth and nail but he knew that Rick was right, she didn't need to see her brother that way.

Amity and Maggie had run to Carol's side, both women offering a hand as they prepared what little supplies they had to work on what was left of Tyreese's limb.

They built a fire, heated a machete blade, but it was all useless in the end.

Sasha didn't scream. She barely cried.

They were all too accustomed to the horror that was the world they were living in.

The group was full of wide unseeing eyes and tight faces as they all faced the reality that was their everyday lives.

Living this way would kill someone before a walker ever got ahold of them.

After helping lift Tyreese's body from the vehicle, Michael had clutched Amity so tightly that she almost couldn't breathe. Not a word of complaint passed her lips though as she buried her face against her brother's chest and allowed herself to hide away from the world for a moment.

The older man's breathing was harsh and ragged, his muscles shook slightly as he held her, and Amity could practically hear the thoughts going through his head.

It could be him sooner than later. It could have been her when she was drug down into the hole back on the farm. They still had each other and that was amazing and terrifying all at once.

In a second that could change.

Amity wrapped her arms around Michael as well.

* * *

After Tyreese and the dead end that was Virginia, the group just kept moving.

Amity noted the fact that they were moving North, apparently having nowhere to go but upwards.

The redhead thought it was a good call. She couldn't imagine that much waited for them in Alabama or Florida.

The group piled in and out of the death trap that was the van they had commandeered as they traveled.

Soon, water was in short supply and Rick had them stopping on a gravel backroad.

They were divided into search groups and Amity found herself paired with Glenn and Bandit.

Her group stood together at the van a beat longer than others, their eyes trained on the other small group of three that was ducking into the trees.

Glenn's eyes followed his wife and Amity stood with her eyes on Daryl's back, waiting for the man to glance back at her, but there was nothing. A heavy hand rested on her shoulder and gave a small squeeze, pulling her eyes away from the retreating hunter to Bandit.

The Marine's eyes held obvious concern and sympathy and only because he was such a good friend did Amity refrain from scoffing and pushing him away.

She was fine.

She didn't need Daryl to look at her to know that she was fine.

She didn't need his reassurance or his strength.

"Let's go." The woman bit out, turning to stalk into the woods without another word.

As she walked, Amity felt the empty water jug tied around her waist bounce against her thigh. She heard the two men following behind her but paid them no mind once they hopped down into a small ravine and found nothing but soil.

Amity crouched down, running her fingertips over the bone-dry earth before beginning to dig, her fingers sifting through the soil that was getting cooler the further she dug.

The woman had made a sizable hole before she gave up on the chance of water pooling into it.

She fell back on her behind from where she had been crouched resting on her heels and looked back at Glenn and Bandit before shaking her head.

"We need to split up," Amity told them.

"No." Bandit said firmly, but the woman ignored him.

"We'll stay within screaming distance, but the more ground we cover the better chance we've got." She insisted. "Bandit, we need water."

The Marine considered her a moment before looking over to Glenn. In response to his searching gaze, Glenn shrugged his shoulders but then pressed his lips together and nodded.

"She's right. We need to split up." He backed her.

Giving a resigned nod, Bandit held a large hand out towards Amity and the redhead grasped it, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"If I whistle and don't get a response from you both, I'm going to string you both up. Understood?" He demanded, looking first at Amity then Glenn.

The pair nodded, before exchanging a look. Glenn gave Amity a small amused smile that the woman didn't return.

Without another word, the trio parted ways.

Walking through the forest alone, Amity was reminded of all the times she had done so before.

She remembered in the beginning after her car broke down and she was thanking the Lord for her hiking boots that had since worn out. She remembered running alone after the fall of the prison. She remembered staring down Gareth alone within Terminus.

Was alone easier?

The woman stopped to shove her knife into the skull of a walker that had been trailing her for the last few minutes.

She yanked the blade from the bone and watched it crumple, her eyes taking in its decaying face before looking at its clothing.

The walker could have been a teacher in its time, or perhaps a preacher's wife. Maybe it was a psychologist?

Amity kicked the things emaciated leg before turning and walking away.

There would come a time that she looked just like that thing did. The only thing she hoped for was that someone would stop her from being one of the walking ones.

A whistle sounded through the trees and it took Amity a moment to decide whether or not to answer it.

She could have not.

She could have stayed silent and taken off through the trees and left everyone behind her.

She could have stopped the pain of losing more of the people she cared about before it happened without her having a choice in the matter.

Amity couldn't do that though.

She wasn't strong enough to leave Michael, or Daryl, or Maggie.

She couldn't leave any of the group behind.

With that in mind, Amity let out a low keening whistle a few beats after she heard Glenn's sharp one.

They were all still moving.

The night was falling before Amity was really ready for it to do so and another whistle echoing had the woman heading towards the sound.

She found Bandit just before Glenn did and upon entering the small grove of trees, the Asian man reached out to give her arm a light squeeze before sitting himself down on the ground.

Amity settled herself down against the base of a tree and sat quietly for a moment before she felt eyes on her.

She looked at Glenn and Bandit but found that both men were fiddling with their supplies rather than looking at her.

The sensation put her on edge.

Taught with tension, the redhead slowly shifted forward until she was balanced in a crouch rather than sitting on the ground. Her hands hovered over the bow that laid on the forest floor in front of her, waiting for the slightest sign that she needed to arm herself with it.

She held the position for a few long moments before Glenn seemed to notice her behavior.

"Amity?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Was she going crazy? Was there something out there or was she just paranoid?

"Hm?" She hummed softly back.

"What is it?" Glenn asked and she took a moment to scan the darkened forest around them, the moon trying its hardest to lit up the dense woods but to little avail.

"Nothing." She said after a long moment, letting out a breath to steady herself as she decided that she just may have been going insane.

Amity fell back onto her rump, ignoring the concerned eyes of her friends that were now trained on her and instead focused on her knees.

"I'll take first watch." Glenn volunteered.

Amity shut her eyes.

* * *

The next morning was much like the previous.

There was no water to be found, no food.

The redhead ignored the growling of her stomach as she met back up with Glenn and Bandit after a short search apart. They hadn't found a damn thing either.

"Think anyone else had any luck?" Glenn asked and Amity held back the snappy retort that threatened to pass her lips.

"We can hope so." Bandit replied instead.

Their feet hit gravel a moment later and Amity looked at the group sitting around the back of the van and sighed.

"Nope." She told the two men and Glenn frowned.

It was obvious that no one had found anything of use, but there was still one group that needed to return- Daryl, Maggie, and Sasha.

It was only a few minutes later that they did so and Amity let her eyes wander over each of them to first check their state of being then to see if they were carrying anything.

They weren't.

Again, they were all piled up into the sweltering van and Amity wedged herself between the two front seats that held Rick and Abraham.

She sat quietly, trying not to pant in the suffocating heat that was barely helped by the windows that were rolled down in the front.

Amity felt a hand rest on the top of her head and looked up to see that it was Rick who had done so, the man glanced down at her before mussing her hair a bit, bringing a scowl to her lips and a small smile to his own.

She reached up to bat his hand away and he moved it when she did so, the smile not fading from his lips for another second or so until he refocused on the road ahead of him.

Amity's chest felt just a bit less tight.

A few more miles and the van was slowing.

Amity wasn't sure if she was relieved or unhappy about the fact that they were going to be hoofing it from that point forward.

A few hours into their walk and she had her answer.

The van had been suffocating, but the sun beating down on them burned and _boy_ , did Amity burn.

The woman could feel her skin reddening and grow tight, her ginger genes working against her as the sun beat down on their faces then their backs and shoulders.

Only an hour into the walk had Amity stolen her brother's light long sleeve over shirt, an action that had those around her looking at her like she was crazy until they noted the pinkness of her face and neck.

Luckily for Michael, the man had always tanned instead of burned. After seeing that his sister was at risk of burning worse or getting sun poisoning, he walked close behind her, trying to keep some of the sun from bearing down on her back.

As they walked, the group had gathered themselves a bit of fanfare.

The low growls and groans of walkers followed them as they trudged on, their bodies and minds exhausted from the heat.

The sound of the pursuing death machines was slowly driving Amity to the brink.

She knew it was doing the same to many in her group and looked up from her feet as Daryl turned, his eyes passing over her without pause as he fixated on the horde trialing them.

"We're not at our strongest. We'll get 'em when it's best." Rick told him, trying to soothe the obviously anxious man. "High ground, something like that. They're not going anywhere."

Amity tuned them out, not wanting to listen to the pep talk and besides, Daryl and Rick had begun to pull ahead of the group a bit.

Rick was looking at his friend with concern.

The leader had noticed the way that he had been acting, that a lot of their group had been acting, but Daryl and Amity in particular.

The couple, Maggie, and Sasha were the ones who he had been keeping an eye on when he could.

Amity, he held concern over, but the redhead had Bandit and Michael hovering around her like mother hens. He didn't want to add to that.

Maggie was withdrawn, but she was stronger than anyone he had ever known and Glenn was still there. Rick couldn't imagine a time that Glenn wasn't there at the woman's side.

Sasha was another case. Rick didn't know how to approach the hardened woman, but he was working on it.

Daryl, however, was someone that he could start to do something about. He knew that Merle had tried, but tough love didn't seem to be what the hunter needed.

Rick had his suspicions on who it was that was needed to snap his brother out of the numb state he had seemed to settle into, but he had also seen the way Daryl barely looked at Amity anymore.

It was a massive change from the couple that he knew they were.

There was no doubt in Rick's mind that Daryl loved the woman more than anything, that he would put his life on the line for hers in a second flat, but there was something that was keeping Daryl from allowing them to use that love to help them both.

"It's been three weeks since Atlanta." Rick began, "I know you lost something back there."

Daryl just kept walking in silence though his shoulders had tensed.

In Rick's arms, Judith fussed a bit and Daryl's eyes snapped to the baby girl immediately.

"She's hungry." He said.

"She's okay," Rick replied. "She's going to be okay."

"We need to find water, food," Daryl told the leader.

"We'll hit something on the road." Rick reasoned, turning his eyes to the sky. "It's gonna rain sooner or later."

"I'm gonna head out," Daryl said abruptly, now catching the attention of the group as he handed the rifle he carried over to Rick.

"See what I can find." He explained.

"Hey, don't be too long," Rick said.

Amity stepped forward, moving as if she was going to follow the hunter when the sharp gaze that he turned on her had her stopping in her tracks.

There was a beat of tension, of uncomfortable air, but then Carol stepped forward, her eyes hard.

"I'll go with you." She told the man, already moving towards him.

"I got it." He growled out, but the woman didn't pause.

"You gonna stop me?" She asked him, and with a shake of his head, Daryl resigned himself to her company.

Hurt built up in Amity, not from Carol going with him as she knew the older woman was just looking out for her close friend, but from Daryl's sharp look. It was the first time his eyes had rested on her since the day he tried to tell her she wasn't going to the camp in Virginia.

The first time and it was filled with sharp anger, maybe even hate.

He blamed her. Amity knew that he did.

If Daryl had been the one with Beth in Grady Memorial, he would have gotten them out. Amity couldn't.

"I'm taking a walk." Amity forced out, her voice tight and her words rushed.

She saw both her brother and Bandit move to reach for her but she held out a hand to stop them, not looking back as she quickly veered off the road and into the woods to the side opposite of the way Carol and Daryl had gone.

"Amity," Rick called after her, but the woman didn't stop moving.

"Amity! Don't take too long!" The leader yelled and the woman raised a hand in acknowledgment.

She wasn't stupid and she wasn't cruel enough to leave her brother and friends concerned for her, but she needed space.

She needed to be alone. She needed to be able to not be so hardened.

Amity couldn't very well break down in front of the group.

She wouldn't.

* * *

"Anything?" Carol asked Daryl as the moved through the field of dry grass in hopes of finding a drop of water.

"No, it's too dry." He replied, shaking his head. "There ain't nothing here."

"Maybe we should start back," Carol suggested.

"You go," Daryl told her, but Carol didn't move.

Instead, she stopped and looked at the man, her hands grasping one another tightly.

"I think she saved my life," Carol said suddenly, not needing to say who she was talking about. "She saved your life, too, right?"

She pulled the knife that she had been holding onto from her waistband, moving forward to offer it to Daryl.

"It was hers." She explained as he took it.

She watched the man carefully for a moment, trying to read the lines of his meticulously masked expression.

"We're not dead," Carol told him, meeting his gaze once it rose to hers. "That's what you said. You're not dead. Amity, _she's_ not dead."

Daryl was quiet as he looked at her, but she knew that he was listening.

"I know you. We're different. I can't let myself-" She paused, swallowing hard. "But you- I know _you_. You have to let yourself feel it. You need to feel it and you need to remember... she needs you, Daryl."

Sucking in a breath of air, Carol carefully pushed the man's hair out of his eyes. She looked at him with a sad affection before rising on her tiptoes so that she could press a soft kiss to his forehead.

"You will." She stated.

Carol left him then, deciding that leaving the man to his thoughts would be for the best.

He needed time to consider what she said. He needed time to realize that he was still needed and loved and _alive_.

Daryl watched his friend retreat before he dropped his eyes down to his hands, his knuckles white as he clenched his fists.

Carol knew what to say to get inside of his head.

Daryl had seen the hurt in Amity's gaze when he turned her away without even saying a word.

He couldn't deny that he had been pushing her away since Atlanta.

Three weeks.

He could barely believe that much time had passed.

For three weeks he had barely looked at the woman who he loved so much that it made his chest hurt. He couldn't bring himself to talk to her, to say all of the things that welled up in his throat when he caught a glimpse of her blue eyes.

He was afraid that when he looked at her he would see her covered in blood again. That he would hear her uncontrolled screams of grief as she fell to her knees beside the body of Beth. He was afraid that her body would join Beth's if he looked at her.

Carol said she needed him.

Daryl wasn't so sure.

The redhead had shadows in the form of her brother and Bandit. The Marine had been one of the only ones to pull anything close to an emotion from the woman since Atlanta.

A voice in the back of his head, a voice that sounded uncannily like Amity, whispered that _he_ hadn't tried yet. She had been so lifeless, so despondent, and maybe he was the one that she needed to help chase that away.

When the farm had fallen and her research was gone, the woman had gone into a state nowhere near as bad as the one she was in currently, but it was similar. Daryl had been the one to steady her then, to ground her and remind her that they were living.

 _"You're not dead. Amity, she's not dead."_

Daryl tucked the knife that Carol had given him into the waistband of his pants before moving on.

* * *

Amity stumbled through the trees, her breathing getting heavier by the minute.

She could feel herself slipping.

With every step, the careful control she had held over herself was falling away.

Two more steps and the woman was on her knees in the dirt, her hands covering her face as sob after sob tore through her.

She had let her die.

She was right in front of her and she had let her die.

Daryl knew that. The man saw more than most.

He saw that she had let her die and he blamed her.

He should blame her.

Amity couldn't get her out.

She couldn't save her.

Beth had trusted her to protect her. Amity was her mentor, she was supposed to keep her safe, but Beth had tried to protect her and Noah.

That wasn't how it was supposed to be.

Daryl couldn't even look at her.

Her body trembled as she cried, no one around to witness the heart-wrenching noises besides the trees.

Their sturdy trunks loomed over her, creating the sanctuary that she had needed to let go of the pain she had been keeping in.

She sat under their branches and lost time.

When her sobs had settled and her body had stopped shaking, her tears drying on her cheeks, Amity was unsure how much time had passed.

Though exhausted and guilt-ridden, Amity felt lighter than she had in weeks.

Her mind was a constant cycle of mental berating, of guilt and grief, but her body felt the relief that came with a good cry.

Wiping the tear tracks from her cheeks, Amity pushed herself to her feet a bit clumsily and decided to take the long way back to the road. Showing up with swollen red eyes was nearly as bad as breaking down in front of the group.

* * *

Daryl had heard the excited growls of walkers as he approached the point in the road where he estimated the group would have gotten to.

He burst from the treeline just in time to pull a walker off of Rick. The man had been overwhelmed by a few of the undead while the rest of the group on that side of the bridge were struggling with their own.

It seemed that the group had found their chance to take out the horde following them, but something wasn't going as planned.

Daryl slammed his knife home into the skull of one of the walkers, breathing heavily as he looked around for more but the others had finished picking off the last few.

He scanned the faces around him.

Rick. Merle. Abraham. Bandit. Maggie. Glenn. Michael. Michonne. Sasha.

Whipping his head around, the man squinted against the sun to see the group on the far side of the bridge.

Carol. Carl. Judith. Tara. Eugene. Rosita. Noah.

"Where's Amity?" He asked sharply, looking at those closest to him for any sign of panic or concern, but finding none.

"She went off," Abraham replied, the man apparently catching on to the fact that no one else was going to.

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking at Rick then. "You didn't stop her?"

"Daryl-" Rick began, but Bandit cut him off.

"What? Now that she's gone you're asking about her? Don't even fucking look at the woman when she's right in front of your damn face, but she does something you're not pleased with and-" The Marine rampaged, only stopping when Daryl lunged at him.

The hunter was caught around the waist by Rick, the leader moving quickly to avoid a fight that he had seen brewing for weeks.

"Enough!" He told them both.

"Man, you don't know shit." Daryl snarled and Bandit scoffed.

"No, man, _you_ don't know shit." He snapped back.

"Bandit!" Michael snapped from nearby, striding forward to push the Marine back a step and out of the confrontation.

"You think she'll be thankin' you for that?" Michael asked him, his voice low and Bandit shook his head, pushing himself away from him.

"I don't need her thanks to still look out for her." He said, tossing one last sharp look Daryl's way before striding off towards the other side of the bridge.

* * *

By the time Amity returned, Daryl was gone again.

She made her way to the group, noting the couple of cars that were further down the road behind them and the fact that the horde was now gone.

It appeared that she had missed all of the fun.

"Bug," Michael said, sounding relieved by her appearance.

He reached out to her, draping a broad arm around her shoulders for a moment until she hissed in pain and he remembered the sunburn that she had received.

"Sorry," He said quickly and Amity offered him a tired pressed smile.

"Don't worry about it, Mikey. I've had worse." She reminded him and he frowned.

"Don't like to think about that." He muttered but she shook her head.

"We've _all_ had worse." She insisted.

The group trudged on in silence for a while longer and Amity pointedly ignored Daryl's absence.

The man didn't want to concern himself with her anymore and she would respect that. He had every right to distance himself.

Amity was just beginning to pant a bit heavier when Rick called for them to stop.

Immediately, they all moved to the shade on the side of the road and plopped down.

Amity tilted her head down and flipped her hair over, wanting to tug the hair tie from her ginger locks so that she could regroup them, but it seemed that the hair tie was not wanting to let go.

She yanked harshly at it, not being gentle at all with her roots and she knew that if she wasn't careful she could snap the band, but that didn't stop her.

What did stop her was a hand gently resting on top of hers.

Amity tilted her head to the side and saw Rosita looking down at her.

"Let me help." The woman requested and Amity considered the offer for a moment before relenting.

She sat quietly as the other woman delicately worked the band out of her tangled mane. The sensation of someone's fingers in her hair, and the freedom from the weight of her messily tied bun, nearly pulled a sigh from her.

When the hair tie was free, Amity was nearly disappointed by that fact and it seemed that Rosita must have caught on to that.

"I can braid it if you want." She offered.

At that, Amity froze for a moment. A lousy braider herself, there were many times that someone had carefully woven her hair into a neater state for her, but that person had always been Beth.

It seemed that the blonde girl could never resist the chance to get her hands on Amity's wild ginger hair. Beth always cooed over it despite how annoying Amity vowed to her it was.

"That... would be nice. Thanks." She said finally, pulling a smile from the other woman's lips that Amity tried her best to return. She knew the smile must have looked awkward and out of place, but it was a smile.

As she turned her back to Rosita, Amity caught Bandit watching her, a small smile on his own lips.

She told him that she would try.

Despite the guilt she carried, Amity was still living. She was there and she knew that she had those around her who cared about her. She couldn't hurt them by leaving or by letting herself waste away. She didn't need the burden of causing anyone else any more pain on her shoulders.

"Fuckin' beauty salon over here," Merle grumbled, making Carl smirk in response. The teen seemed to find Merle more amusing than most everyone else did.

Rosita made quick work of french braiding her hair and once she was done, Amity ran her fingertips along the plait before looking at her.

"Thank you." She said softly and Rosita shrugged.

"You have beautiful hair. I couldn't resist." She excused.

The small moment was interrupted by the cracking of limbs, the sound causing everyone to tense.

Amity rolled to the balls of her feet, just before realizing that it was Daryl returning.

The hunter stepped out of the trees, his eyes finding her first and she nearly fell back on her ass over the action.

Daryl held her gaze for a long moment, his blue eyes clearer than they had been in a while before he turned to Rick who looked at him with questioning.

He shook his head and she felt the group deflate a little.

Still no luck with water.

Amity held back a sigh and sat fully back down.

A moment later, Daryl was lowering himself down by her side and she was eyeing him carefully.

She was confused, to say the least.

The man had wanted nothing to do with her and she had understood why.

So, why was he there now?

Daryl didn't say a word, only looked at her before he reached out towards her.

Amity nearly flinched away, but she held herself still, watching as he brushed a dirty thumb lightly over her exposed forearm. She had peeled off Michael's shirt once they were in the shade and now her nasty sunburn was on full display.

"Need to find some mud." He said, his voice so low that Amity thought he may have just been talking to himself.

"That would be something." Amity lamented, shaking her head.

They had barely found damp soil, let alone mud.

"This is gonna leave you dehydrated faster." He said, his lips drawn tight.

Shrugging her tender shoulders, the woman didn't know what to tell the man.

She burnt easy and there was no avoiding it. She was just thankful that she didn't seem to have any blisters or sun poisoning.

"Nothing to be done." She reasoned, her eyes still on his fingertips that were touching her skin.

Nearby, Abraham began to dig through one of the bags. He found a bottle and pulled it out, twisting off the top and sniffing it before taking a swig.

Amity saw the expression on Rosita's face sour for a moment as she watched him before she turned her eyes back to the empty road.

Daryl was looking at Amity and after a moment of watching Rosita, Amity was looking back.

The man gave her temporary whiplash, and now with him beside her, she was feeling off-kilter.

It terrified her how easy it was to be at his side even after the weeks of tension and hurt between them. Daryl was suffering too. He had been close with Beth, Amity knew he had blamed her and she had just accepted that fact, but then he was back.

He was back to looking at her so softly, to protectively worrying about her well-being. He was back to looking at her for her thoughts on the situation in front of them.

Her head was a mess.

"So all we found was booze?" Tara asked.

"Yeah," Rosita confirmed.

"It's not gonna help."

"He knows that."

"It's gonna make it worse."

"Yes, it is," Rosita confirmed, her voice calm and even.

"He's a grown man." Eugene cut in. "And I truly do not know if things can get worse."

Amity considered throwing a glare at the man who had lied to them all, but she resisted. Who was she to judge the man? She had done many terrible things herself.

Though only the recent was truly on par with what he had done in her opinion.

"They can," Rosita told them all, the words hanging ominously.

As if on cue, there was a rustling in the woods near the spot that Daryl had emerged from.

The sound of the shifting leaves was accompanied by low growls and Amity's eyes widened at the sight of the pack of dogs that slinked out. Their teeth were bared, their stances aggressive, but there were collars around some of their necks.

Amity felt her eyes well up with moisture.

The poor dogs had been left alone in the world just like them.

Their small pack was a mirror image of their own group.

She shifted to her toes, ignoring Daryl's arm that was stretched out in front of her as he held a knife tightly in his other hand. His stance screamed with the protective nature he held.

"Shh, shh, shh." She shushed the canines, her voice soft and low. "Easy. Whoa, easy."

Amity had grown up around any and all animals.

Her family had herding dogs, house dogs, and barn dogs.

She was at ease with animals, aggressive or not.

Looking at the black and white shepherd, in particular, Amity was reminded of curling up at night with the family dog at the foot of her bed.

Once upon a time, these dogs were that for someone.

One of her hands touched the asphalt as she shifted herself forward, ready to try to defuse the situation so that the dogs would go on, but then a yelp sounded and one of the dogs dropped.

From then on, they went down like legos, their whines and yelps of pain sending Amity's hand up to cover her mouth in shock.

"Shit," Merle drawled out, his words encompassing the main thought that had passed through Amity's mind.

What was wrong with her?

Sasha had acted without a word, putting a bullet through each of the dogs' heads without a second thought.

They had seen worse, had done worse, but the sight of the pets sprawled out dead on the asphalt and Sasha standing over them with her gun made Amity's empty stomach roll.

They sat in silence for a moment before Rick rose to his feet and reached into the woods, pulling a stick from the underbrush and snapping it on his leg.

Not too long later, the dogs were skinned and roasting over the fire.

Amity held a bone shaped tag between her fingers, the engraving of the name "Cloud" rough under her fingertips.

The smell of the cooking meat had her stomach turning.

"Easy, girl," Daryl said from where he had been crouched next to her. He had been turning the spits when he saw her face pale considerably.

She pointedly avoided looking at the dried blood on his hands.

"Need to eat." He said as gently as he could as he tried to rationalize it to her, but she shook her head. Her stomach nearly caved in out of protest, but the thought of swallowing the dog meat down seemed impossible.

"Can't think about it too much." Bandit said as he plopped himself down on the other side of her, holding out a chunk of the meat to her. "They're already gone, Bambi. It does no good to waste it and you're starving. Eat."

Amity considered the meat in Bandit's grasp before looking back to Daryl, the hunter seemed to be eying her closely, but he nodded his head and she gave a resigned sigh.

She felt ganged up on.

Taking the meat from Bandit, she swallowed heavily and forced out a hard breath of air before taking a bite.

The taste was a bit off-putting, but in her head, she repeated the mantra that there was nothing to be done. That it was just a nameless meat.

In exchange for the meat, Bandit had taken the tag from her. She watched as he carefully opened the small metal ring and reached for her bag. Without a word, he threaded the metal loop onto one of the zippers and Amity smiled softly.

Cloud would be remembered.

They only rested a half an hour or so after they ate before they were on the move again.

This time, Amity moved along in the middle of the group with Daryl walking at her side.

For the life of her, Amity couldn't figure out what had changed.

She kept shooting glances at the man, but she never spoke up. She was selfishly afraid of reminding him of what she had done, that if she spoke then he would block her out again.

Amity was startled out of her thoughts by a water bottle being held out towards her.

"Drink, Cherry." Daryl insisted.

"Don't call me that," Amity replied, the nickname sending a shudder through her and Daryl looked regretful.

He had forgotten.

The nickname he had used for her for so long just fell so easily from his lips.

He couldn't believe he had forgotten.

"Drink." He pressed and the woman carefully took the bottle from his hands.

She knew that Michael was walking close behind them with Carol, the man still shielding Amity from the sun the best that he could.

She was now wearing Michael's overshirt and Carl had given her his hat. When she tried to refuse it, the boy, _the little shit_ , had poked a finger into the back of her neck and the wince she gave in response supported his argument.

Amity was well aware that she had to look ridiculous.

Once she had taken a drink, she passed the water bottle up to Glenn with a pointed look towards Maggie.

They trudged on.

"Daryl?" Glenn said, turning to offer the water bottle back to the hunter as they walked. He had convinced some of the liquid into Maggie and Amity was thankful for that.

"No, I'm all right." Daryl excused.

"Daryl," Amity admonished softly.

"Don't." The man snapped and the redhead resisted wincing away from the harsh tone.

Never before had the man's temper and general grumpiness bothered her, but after the weeks of being treated as if she didn't exist except when he wanted her to, it hurt. He understood why he would be mad at her, but everything in her fought against being treated poorly by _anyone_.

"Hey," Glenn said a bit sharply, using the word to gain the man's attention and perhaps to stop his building ire before he continued with a softer tone, "We can make it together. But we can only make it _together_."

His words rang true in Amity's chest, but they seemed to do nothing but agitate Daryl.

"Tell them I went looking for water," Daryl told Amity, turning quickly away from her as he tried to avoid seeing the hurt that he knew would be behind her eyes.

Amity considered following him, but she didn't.

Something told her that the man truly needed the time alone. That it wasn't just about him running off from the group.

"Give him some time, princess." Merle's deep voice rasped from where he had come up next to her. She looked over at the older Dixon, pressing her lips together as she fought against the tumultuous emotions that were raging inside of her.

She wanted to say something sharp, something snappy that threw some of the hurt she was feeling back into the world but she stopped herself.

She wasn't the only one hurting, but she was the only one who caused it.

Time was the least she could give him.

Nodding, Amity continued to march on, now walking by Merle's side while Glenn tossed occasional concerned looks over his shoulder at her.

They had been walking for close to an hour more when the front of the group abruptly stopped.

Amity nearly ran into Maggie's back, but Michael's hands steadied her.

She shook him off, threading through the group to come to a stop by Bandit's side at the front of the group.

It was only then that she spotted what they had.

In the middle of the road sat a group of bottles and jugs of water with a piece of paper on the top of it.

"What the-" She began, but trailed off as she read the note.

 _'From a Friend.'_


	48. Chapter 48

Amity wasn't sure there were any good friends out there anymore. Bandit had made her think differently after Kipp's group, and Abraham's group weren't so bad either, but then there was all those people at Terminus and Grady Memorial.

The group circled around the bottles, everyone reading the note and going on high alert.

Amity pulled her bow from where it hung on her sunburnt shoulders and held it aloft in her hands, an arrow nocked into place.

Rustling from the trees had her drawing the arrow back, everyone turning towards the sound with weapons raised, but it was only Daryl who emerged.

Immediately, Rick snatched up the note and handed it to the hunter to read.

"What else are we gonna do?" Tara asked, looking longingly down at the bottles.

"Not this," Rick stated. "We don't know who left it."

"If that's a trap, we already happen to be in it. But I, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend." Eugene told the group.

"What if it isn't? What if they put something in it?" Carol asked.

"What would they gain from doing that?" Amity wondered.

"Our shit." Abraham pointed out and Amity conceded to that point with a tip of her head.

It still seemed like an odd move.

"So what are we going to do?" Carol asked.

"From a friend," Michael said, echoing the note as he shook his head. "There any friends out there anymore, you think?"

"None that I have an interest in being too friendly with," Amity replied.

She glanced back towards the woods, feeling eyes on her once more and when she had, Eugene apparently rushed forward because when she turned back around he had a water bottle in his hands.

"Eugene!" Rosita exclaimed.

"What are you doing, dude?" Tara asked the man.

"Quality assurance." Eugene reasoned and raised the bottle to his lips. The water had just touched his mouth when Abraham leaped forward and slapped the bottle away, sending it crashing to the asphalt, splattering the bottom of Amity's jeans and frankly, she wasn't angry about the coolness of the water against her sweaty skin.

"We can't," Rick said firmly.

Eugene had just adverted his eyes out of apparent guilt when a rumble of thunder sounded from above their heads, drawing the group's eyes upwards.

Amity searched the clouds, squinting against the light that was still beating down before rain slowly began to fall, quickly gaining pace as the clouds rapidly closed in.

She let the water rush over her burnt skin, the cool wetness being so much of a relief that she nearly wept.

Amity looked towards Daryl, finding that his eyes were already on her and offered him a wide smile, the action feeling foreign on her lips but she couldn't stop it.

It was _raining_.

She had barely a moment to register the somber look that had been on the hunter's face before her smile seemed to shift something within him. He looked at her with a softness behind his gaze, water dripping from his hair into his eyes, but that didn't take his eyes from her.

Amity felt pinned under his gaze and stopped the small twirl she had been doing so that she was facing him head-on.

With a certain amount of caution, the woman reached out a hand to the hunter and he took it. Their fingers interlaced, the joy that sparked in her chest mingling pleasantly in her mind with the laughter of Tara and Rosita from where they had laid down in the middle of the wet asphalt.

"Everybody get the bags," Rick said, jolting them all out of the moment of contentment. "Anything you can find."

Amity gave Daryl's hand a gentle squeeze before pulling her own from his grasp and untying the water jug from her waist. She set it down, letting it begin to fill up with water as the rain started to fall harder.

When Judith began to cry, Amity passed Carl's hat back to the boy so that he could better shield his baby sister.

The thunder was growing louder, the booming presence of it causing her to flinch down.

She had never been the biggest fan of storms and the relief of finding water was quickly passing.

"Let's keep moving," Rick told the group.

Amity helped Rosita to her feet before gathering her water jug and capping it.

The air was charged with a ferocity that she knew the storm was bringing in with it.

"There's a barn," Daryl called out over the noise of the storm.

"Where?" Rick asked.

The hunter led them off of the road, the group slipping and sliding in the mud as they made their way down the embankment.

Amity had nearly tumbled ass over heels down the slope and certainly would have if it hadn't been for Michonne grabbing her at the last second, both women digging their heels into the mud to regain their balance.

They made it to the barn quickly enough and Amity stood outside with the majority of the group while others cleared the barn. Usually, she would have gone in with them, but the sudden contrast between being burning up, her skin hot and tight, then being doused by the rain had left her shivering like mad.

She was sure if she tried to stab something then it would have been a mess.

Once the barn was deemed clear, Amity followed the group inside and helped everyone get settled. She knew that her actions were surprising some of the group. She had been closed off and cold for longer than just after Beth's death.

She hadn't been herself. She still wasn't, but now she was trying.

That made all the difference, even if she wasn't trying for herself.

Once they were all in and drying off, Amity settled herself down by the small fire Daryl and Glenn had been working to build. She sat between Rick and Daryl, Carl laid out at an angle with his head resting on her thigh. He had fallen asleep as she carded her fingers through his damp locks.

Another hard shiver wracked her body and she felt a piece of cloth being tossed over her shoulders, it smelled of hay and mildew, but it was now keeping the heat that her burnt shoulders were putting off in instead of letting the cool air of the barn suck it from her.

"Thanks." She told Daryl softly, the man nodding in response.

The thought of Amity getting sick, even if it was just her sunburn that was ailing her, had the man on edge. Sickness with her potentially weakened immune system could be deadly- even from something as simple as a cold.

He remembered how afraid he had been for her when the sickness took the prison, but she had made it through that and she was here now. It amazed Daryl how resilient she was, but if she hadn't been, Daryl wasn't sure that he would have been the man he was without the redhead around.

She had kept him in check for so long. She had been patient and kind with him. She had understood when he left with Merle, all of the times that he had snapped at her, and when he showed her his scars.

She had done all that and he had let his grief turn her into a ghost to him.

He was done with that.

The woman deserved more.

She deserved the world.

She deserved more than he could ever dream to give her, but she had told him a long time ago that it was him she had chosen to be with, so he was going to do everything he could to be worthy of that choice.

No more excuses. No more ducking his head and shying away from the emotions that just the sight of her presented him with.

Losing Beth... it had nearly destroyed them both, but he knew Beth would be kicking his ass if she saw them now. She had fought so hard to convince Daryl that Amity was alive and that they would find her and now he had found her, he was treating her like she wasn't there.

Enough was enough.

Reaching out to her, Daryl glanced around to see if anyone was paying them attention but Carl was asleep on her lap and Rick and Carol were in their own conversation, so he gently took her hand in his.

Amity looked over at the man with confusion and a bit of curiosity, staying quiet as he lifted her knuckles to his lips and pressed a scratchy kiss against them.

Her heart swelled in her chest, her breath catching as she watched him.

"I used to feel sorry for kids that have to grow up now. In this." Rick said, his words catching Amity's attention even with how focused she was on Daryl.

The redhead looked towards their leader, the group around the fire now all becoming invested in what Carol and Rick had been talking about- Carl. Amity thought that Daryl would drop her hand, but he didn't. He kept it held firmly in his own, his thumb brushing over the back of it.

"But I think I got it wrong." Rick continued. "Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier for them."

"This isn't the world," Michonne stated. "This isn't it."

"It might be," Glenn said and Amity nodded her head, agreeing with her friend.

"It might." She said softly.

"That's giving up." Michonne retorted.

"It's reality," Glenn said.

"Until we see otherwise, this is what we have to live with," Rick stated. "When I was a kid I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in the war. He wouldn't answer. He said that was grown-up stuff, so so I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him, but he got real quiet. He said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Every day he woke up and told himself, 'Rest in peace. Now get up and go to war,' and then after a few years of pretending he was dead, he made it out alive."

Rick's tale had Amity frowning, her chin dropping a bit as she looked down at the young boy resting his head in her lap. It reminded her of the story Rick had told them back at the prison, about the boy who killed his girlfriend. They were stories that highlighted the darkness.

Didn't they have enough darkness?

When she looked over at Bandit, the man sitting just barely within the reach of the fire's light, she saw something haunting behind his expression. Amity and he had never talked too in depth about his time serving overseas before the whole world had become a hell hole, but his expression in that moment said enough.

Maybe that was why the man was so equipped in this new world? Why it hadn't torn him down like it threatened to do so many of them. He had already pieced himself back together Lord knows how many times before.

They say broken bones heal stronger.

"That's the trick of it, I think," Rick said, almost following Amity's train of thought. "We do what we need to do and then we get to live. But no matter what we find in D.C., I know we'll be okay because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves that we are the walking dead."

Rick's words hung over the group.

They weighed on Amity as she chewed her lip. Just that day she had been kicking a walker, thinking about being in its place, but the thought of already being as they were... it was unsettling.

"We ain't them," Daryl said, catching the woman's attention.

She looked at the hunter beside her, trying to read his expression as he shifted from where he was sitting up on to the balls of his feet, dropping her hand.

"We're not them." Rick conceded, looking at his friend closely, but Daryl's eyes were now on the flames.

"Hey," Rick said, gaining Daryl's attention as he leaned into his line of sight. "We're not."

Daryl still seemed agitated by Rick's story. He pushed himself fully to his feet, looking around the circle before his eyes settled on Amity.

"We ain't them." He said firmly and then he was gone, picking up his crossbow and leaving the large stall.

Amity stared at where he had disappeared long after she couldn't see him anymore.

She felt distinctly colder without him by her side.

The wind howled and thunder boomed, rattling the barn a bit with its nearness.

Without another word to anyone, Amity pushed herself to her feet and went to follow after Daryl.

She had just cleared the stall when her eyes found the rattling doors that had Daryl pressed against them. Her eyes widened and Maggie rushed past her, the woman slamming herself against the wooden doors as well.

It took only another second for Amity's mind to catch up with the scene and then she was on the other side of Daryl, ignoring the searing pain as she forced her tender back and shoulders against the wooden doors with all of her strength.

She wouldn't let the walkers into the barn, into the place that her family had taken sanctuary if it was the very last thing she did with her life.

Slowly but surely, the group filled in the spaces around her, Maggie, and Daryl.

Sasha had been the first, followed closely by Bandit and then the rest of the group had appeared in a mass.

They all threw their weight and strength against the doors, all mentally pleading for the walkers to just go away, to lose interest, to be struck down.

Something, _anything_ , that would let them live through that night.

Their feet slipped in the damp dirt that made up the barn floor, but none of them stumbled.

They couldn't afford to.

* * *

At some point, the pushing had stopped.

Daryl sat against the wall of the barn, his crossbow within reach as he kept watch over his sleeping group around him.

His right hand rested lightly on top of a mass of ginger curls. When the pushing had stopped, the woman stumbled along behind him until he sat and she followed, collapsing onto the floor with a slender hand on his leg before falling right to sleep.

Amity's sheer exhaustion had been obvious to him before, but now he hoped that she would get at least a good few hours rest while she could.

He was immediately aware when Maggie began to stir. He watched as the brunette rose to her feet and spotted him before making her way over.

She took care as she sat, making sure to stay quiet as not to wake Amity or anyone else.

"You should get some sleep," Maggie told him, her voice gentle.

"Yeah." Daryl agreed but made no move to lay down.

"It's okay to rest now," Maggie said, before looking away from the hunter and down at Amity.

She reached over to gently tuck a stray piece of red hair out of the sleeping woman's face, smiling softly down at her best friend. After a moment, she turned her eyes towards Sasha who laid on a patch of floor across the way.

"He was tough," Daryl commented, following her gaze.

"He was." Maggie agreed.

"So was she." He added, both of their minds going to Beth. "She didn't know it, but she was."

That pulled a somber smile from Maggie, the slight show of emotion morphing into a near genuine smile as she let out a small huff of laughter.

Daryl marked that as an accomplishment.

He could see that Maggie had remembered Beth for who she was in that moment instead of just thinking about the fact that she was gone.

With that in mind, the hunter carefully reached over the sleeping woman at his side and dug into his bag.

He pulled out a small music box, one that Carl had gifted to Maggie earlier though it hadn't played music then.

"The gearbox had some grit in it." He explained and a smile ghosted across Maggie's lips again.

"Thank you." She told him and he nodded, the pair sharing a small moment of contentment.

After a moment, Maggie pushed herself to her feet and headed towards Sasha.

Daryl left the woman to it and decided to take Maggie's advice and finally get some shut-eye.

* * *

Amity couldn't for the life of her recall when or why or how the pushing against the barn doors had stopped.

All she knew for sure was that it had, in fact, stopped.

She woke up on the floor of the barn alongside one of the walls.

She didn't know how she got over there, but there she was.

Her head was propped up slightly and she shifted, turning her head to see that it was Daryl who she had found herself tucked up against, commandeering his arm as a pillow as she had so many times before.

The sight of his sleeping face had a small smile pulling at her lips so she laid completely still.

She wasn't willing to disturb the peaceful moment. Not yet.

Amity wasn't aware of the fact that Daryl had only been asleep a short while, but she could have guessed as much just due to the man's usual nature.

As if he could sense her wakefulness, which maybe he could, Daryl's beautiful Georgia blue eyes fluttered open only a moment later.

Their gazes met and held, both of them simply looking at one another before Amity smiled softly and could no longer resist the urge to stretch out her tight muscles.

She did so like a cat, the motion languid as she reached her arms over her head and arched her back against the hard barn floor.

"Morning." She greeted the hunter, chuckling at his grumble he offered in return before she fully sat up.

It took a while, but between both herself and Carol, they had finally convinced Daryl to his feet and a moment more of prodding, Amity had the hunter fiddling with the string of her compound bow.

It felt like it had been firing slightly off, so Daryl was doing some much-needed maintenance on the poor thing while she sat at his feet.

Michael was across the room with Carol, glancing at his sister now and again and sticking his tongue out at her when their eyes met. The action had elicited a chuckle or two from random members of their group so the eldest Walker counted that as a win.

Merle leaned against the wall just behind his brother, carefully sharpening the blade on his arm attachment.

Bandit sat on the ground next to Amity, the two passing knives back and forth while Bandit explained some of their finer uses. He truly was a Houdini, Amity was convinced of the fact when he began to direct her on ways to hide the blades on her person.

Everyone had fallen into a relaxed working pace, the space was mostly quiet aside from a few words exchanged here and there. Honestly, Amity and Bandit made up most of the conversation in the barn.

It was only the opening of the barn doors that caught everyone's attention.

Looking over, Amity smiled when she noticed it was Maggie coming in the door, but that smile quickly faded when she caught the tension on the woman's face.

Something was wrong.

"Hey," Maggie said, making sure she had their attention as she carefully opened the doors.

Behind her was a man that Amity did not recognize.

She was on her feet only a second after Daryl, her hands fumbling for one of the knives that she and Bandit had been fiddling with.

"Everyone, this is Aaron," Maggie announced.

Daryl was already moving towards the door with his brother at his heels while everyone armed themselves, aiming weapons at the newcomer without much subtlety.

The hunter moved past the guy, not outright attacking him like Amity had been briefly concerned over. Instead, he seemed to be checking to make sure that there was no one outside waiting to get the jump on them.

"We met him outside. He's by himself." Maggie continued to explain. "We took his weapons and we took his gear."

Merle had roughly grabbed at the man, giving him a swift pat down the best he could with one hand while Tara shut the doors to close them all within the barn.

Amity peered around Bandit's broad form that had been tactfully placed in front of her.

She wasn't even sure that the newcomer would have been able to get so much as a glance of her if her curiosity didn't drive her to step out from the safety the Marine provided.

"Hi." The man, Aaron, said and Amity nearly snorted.

Judith began to cry, the noise drawing Amity's eyes briefly as Carl took his sister from his dad's arms.

"It's nice to meet you," Aaron said, moving as if to take a step forward but Daryl stopped him with a rough hand as did the sight of guns being raised.

This guy was too friendly for his own good it seemed.

"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked and Maggie brought the small gun over to their leader.

Rick took it from her fiddling with it for a moment before tucking it away in the waist of his pants.

"There's something you need?" Rick asked the man, his tone rough.

Amity had a feeling that this conversation was not going to go how Aaron had intended.

"He has a camp nearby," Sasha explained. "He wants us to _audition_ for membership."

Amity did let out a snort of amusement at that, the sudden sound drawing eyes to her but she didn't balk under the attention.

The corners of Aaron's mouth quirked up in response, but he scrunched his nose a bit as well.

"I wish there was another word." He told them. "Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of a dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights."

The joke fell so flat that Amity wished she could find a tire pump for him. Seeming to realize as much for himself, the man shook his head slightly before pressing on valiantly.

"Um, and it's not a camp." He corrected. "It's a community."

Amity wasn't too clear on the distinction there.

"I think you all would make valuable additions," Aaron told them. "But it's not my call. My job is to convince you all to follow me back home."

At that, Amity's brows shot towards her hairline.

The balls on this guy.

"I know," Aaron said, catching on to their response. "If I were you, I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into."

He turned to look at Sasha then.

"Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?" He requested and the woman seemed to consider it for a moment before doing as asked.

"Front pocket, there's an envelope." Aaron directed and Rick took the pack, kneeling down to dig through it. Amity had to resist scooting over to him so that she could see what he was looking at.

"There's no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community. That's why I brought those." Aaron explained. "I apologize in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store last-"

"Nobody gives a shit." Daryl cut him off.

"You're absolutely 100% right," Aaron said quickly.

Amity nearly felt sorry for the guy.

Truly, she would have been if she wasn't convinced that he was trying to lure them off to another cannibal camp to be roasted for dinner. Maybe she should tell him in advance that she lived through a bite, maybe that would allow them to skip the pleasantries and go right to trying to filet her.

"That's the first picture I wanted to show you because nothing I say about our community will matter unless you know you'll be safe. If you join us, you will be." Aaron told them, and before Amity could guess what the picture was of, the man began to explain it.

"Each panel in that wall is a 15-foot-high, 12-foot-wide slab of solid steel framed by cold-rolled steel beams and square tubing. Nothing alive or dead gets through that without our say-so."

Amity watched as Rick slowly rose to his feet and she shifted around Bandit in response.

She knew that look, she knew Rick.

"Like I said, security is obviously important." Aaron continued to pitch. "In fact, there's only one resource more critical to our community's survival. The people."

The redhead stepped out from behind Bandit completely, ignoring the way the Marine shifted uncomfortably as she did so.

"Together we're strong. You can make us even stronger." Aaron told them and that was when Rick started moving.

"The next picture, you'll see inside the gates."

"Rick!" Amity called out over the newcomer's speel.

"Our community was first construc-"

With one hard punch, Rick dropped Aaron and Amity rushed over to crouch down next to him along with Maggie.

"Really, Rick?" Amity said, exasperated.

Sure, she didn't trust the guy as far as she could throw him, but she wasn't about to start throwing punches either.

"So we're clear, that look wasn't a 'let's attack that man' look." Michonne hissed at Rick when he stepped away from the man he had dropped. "It was a 'he seems like an okay guy to me' look."

"We got to secure him," Rick told the group. "Dump his pack. Let's see what this guy really is."

Carl moved to do as his father said while Amity exchanged an exasperated look with Michonne.

"Rick," Michonne said, trying to stop the man's intense directing but it seemed that Rick was on a roll.

"Everybody else, we need eyes in every direction. They're coming for us. We might not know how or when, but they are." He announced.

Amity watched as Daryl tied up Aaron's hands, sitting back on her heels next to Maggie with a heavy sigh.

"Me and Sasha, we didn't see him. If he had wanted to hurt us, he could've." Maggie told their leader.

"Anybody see anything?" Rick asked those who had moved to peek outside of the barn, pointedly ignoring Maggie's words.

"Just a lot of places to hide," Glenn replied.

"Alright, keep looking." Rick directed.

The leader moved away and Amity rose to her feet, crossing the space to pull a rag from her pack and douse it with water before returning to Maggie and the unconscious man's side.

"Here." She told her friend, handing over the rag and letting Maggie gently tend him while she watched.

A small groan escaped Aaron after a few moments and Daryl shifted nearby, his eyes bouncing between the stranger and Amity who was still so close to him.

"That's a hell of a right cross there, Rick." Aaron groaned out, his words slightly slurred.

Amity couldn't believe the man was still being so good-natured.

Someone must have knocked something loose in him a long time ago. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to joke around if someone had knocked her out cold.

She would have been more likely to tear their throat out with her teeth.

"Sit him up," Rick told her and Maggie.

"I think it's better if-" Maggie began, but Aaron was the one to cut her off.

"It's okay." He reassured.

"He's fine. Sit him up." Rick stated.

Setting her jaw, Amity grabbed one of the man's arms and pulled until he was upright, ignoring the pained groan from him the best that she could.

Rick was right, he was fine.

"You're being cautious. I completely understand." Aaron told them.

"How many of your people are out there?" Rick asked roughly, before holding up a small orange pistol. "You have a flare gun. You have it to signal your people. How many of them are there?"

"Does it matter?" Aaron asked in return.

"Yes," Rick told him. "Yes, it does."

"I mean, of course, it matters how many people are _actually_ out there, but does it matter how many people I _tell_ you are out there?" Aaron asked, seeming to catch on to just how Rick operated. "Because I'm pretty sure no matter what number I say- eight, thirty-two, four hundred forty-four, zero. No matter what I say, you're not going to trust me."

The higher the number had climbed, the more the group had started to shift around them.

The threat of the unknown was real and not one that they took lightly.

Though Amity had initially thought of the man as more of a strange character and less of a threat, she reminded herself that even after his bad attempts at humor and apparent good-nature, he could very well have people waiting out there to slaughter them.

Gareth had smiled at her too.

The Governor could smooth-talk with the best of them.

And Dawn, oh man, how Dawn could _lie_.

"Well, it's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face." Rick pointed out.

"How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you on the road?" Aaron asked in return.

Amity's eyes widened a bit at that and she looked from Rick to Daryl who had bristled at the comment.

"How long you people been following us?" Daryl growled, stalking forward, his crossbow held tightly in one hand at his hip.

"Long enough to see that you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail. Long enough to see that despite a lack of food and water, you never turned on each other." Aaron stated.

Amity wondered just how much of them he had seen of them.

She wondered if he had seen her breakdown in the woods and fixed the man under a searching look but his eyes were going between Daryl and Rick.

"You're survivors and you're _people_ ," Aaron told them, stressing the last point.

Obviously, he hadn't seen enough of them. She wasn't sure that she had been much of a person since Grady Memorial.

"Like I said, and I hope you won't punch me for saying it again, that is the most important resource in the world," Aaron said, his words holding the group in a silence that only Rick broke.

"How many others are out there?" Their leader asked once more as he moved closer to the man.

"One," Aaron said, and while Rick paused in disbelief, Amity truly believed him.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," Aaron said, sounding exasperated. "If it's not words, if it's not pictures, what would it take to convince you that this is for real? What if I drove you to the community? All of you? We leave now and we'll get there by lunch."

Maggie had risen to her feet and moved away from the man, but Amity stayed crouched as she was next to him.

"I'm not sure how the nineteen of us are going to fit in the car you and your one friend drove down here in," Rick said with a sarcastic bite to his words.

"We drove separately," Aaron explained, not perturbed by his disbelief. "If we found a group, we wanted to be able to bring them all home. There's enough room for all of us."

"And you've parked just a couple miles away, right?" Carol asked and Amity couldn't get a read on her tone.

"East on Ridge Road, just after you hit Route 16," Aaron explained eagerly. "We wanted to get them closer, but then the storm came, blocked the road. We couldn't clear it."

"Yeah, you've really thought this through." Rick drawled.

"Rick, if I wanted to ambush you, I'd do it here." Aaron pointed out. "You know, light the barn on fire while you slept, pick you off as you ran out the only exit. You can trust me."

Again silence had descended over the group, each of the members lost in their own thoughts or watching their leader. Amity's fingertips touched the dirt floor to keep her balance as she crouched, her eyes jumping from each of her family's faces to the next.

"I'll check out the cars," Michonne said after a moment, stepping towards Rick.

"There aren't any cars." He growled in response.

"There's only one way to find out." Michonne insisted.

"We don't need to find out."

"We do," Michonne stated. "You know what you know and you're sure of it, but I'm not."

"Me neither." Maggie backed Michonne.

"I would like to know... for certain," Amity added, her eyes now on Aaron as she searched his face for any hint of deception.

The man didn't shift under her intense gaze, gaining a certain amount of respect from the redhead in that moment.

"Your way is dangerous, mine isn't," Rick told them.

"Passing up someplace where we can live? Where Judith can live?" Michonne asked. "That's pretty dangerous."

"We need to find out what this is," Amity said, finally pushing herself up from her crouch and to her feet.

"We can handle ourselves, so that's what we're gonna do," Michonne stated firmly.

"Then I will, too. I'll go." Glenn volunteered.

"Abraham, Bandit," Rick called out to the men.

"Yeah," Abraham replied. "I'll walk with them."

"I got 'em, man." Bandit confirmed his company as well.

"Rosita?" Rick added and the woman nodded.

"Okay." She agreed.

"If there's trouble, you got enough firepower?" Rick asked Glenn as Amity went to collect her bow.

"We got what we got," Glenn said and Rick had handed over a gun to the young man.

Amity had shouldered her bow and went to head towards the barn doors when the former sheriff held out a hand to stop her.

"I need you here with me." He told her quietly and she immediately went to argue, but he held up his other hand to stop her. "If anyone can read this guy, know what he's hiding, it's you."

Amity pursed her lips, but she couldn't argue with that.

It wasn't the first time that Rick had called on her to use her past profession as a tool to really get at the root of newcomers or intruders.

With that in mind, the redhead nodded and pulled her bow from where it hung over her shoulder.

"The walkies are out of juice. If you're not back in sixty minutes we'll come." Rick told the rest of them, speaking mainly to the group that was heading out.

"Which might be just what they want." He continued. "If we're all in here, we're a target."

"I've got the area covered," Daryl said, heading towards the barn doors immediately, his arm brushing Amity's lightly as he passed.

"Alright, groups of two, find somewhere safe within eyeshot," Rick told them.

Everyone began to file out of the barn in Daryl's wake, but Amity caught ahold of Bandit's wrist just before the man left.

"Watch your ass, He-Man." She told the Marine who snorted at her latest nickname for him.

"You got it, Doe Eyes," Bandit promised and it was only then that she let him go.

Once everyone had filed out, Rick slowly shut the barn door, leaving the slightest crack for him to peer out of. Amity all but glided across the barn floor as she hunted down a small crate and pulled it over so that she was sitting in front of Aaron, a few paces away but close enough that he knew she was watching him. Her bow was laying on the dirt floor at her feet, her hands hanging loosely from where her elbows rested on top of her knees.

She looked relaxed, but her eyes said differently.

"When the world was still the world, I worked for an NGO," Aaron said suddenly, looking at her for a moment before turning his eyes to Rick at the doors. "Our mission was to deliver medicine and food to the Niger River Delta. Bad people pointed guns in my face every other week. You're not bad people. You're not going to kill us. And we are _definitely_ not going to kill you."

"Just because we're good people doesn't mean we won't kill you," Rick said simply. "If the six of them aren't back in an hour, I'll put a knife in the base of your skull."

Amity watched Aaron's response to that, noting the crinkling around his eyes to the twitch at the corner of his lips.

She was trying to put together pieces that could tell her what was running through the man's mind. No matter how open he seemed, no matter how much her gut instinct was telling her that he was being honest, she couldn't risk missing something.

After that exchange, both men had fallen silent, but Amity didn't move from where she had sat.

She knew that Aaron was more than aware of her observation, his eyes looking around the barn but flickering to her more than she felt he had wanted them to.

She wondered if she was unsettling him.

He had watched Rick as he wandered across the barn towards the back where Amity knew Judith rested.

"How did you get this job?" Amity asked suddenly, watching the man jump slightly at the abrupt sound of her voice.

Aaron looked at her with a mix of curiosity and caution, the same look that she figured was behind her eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing." He replied, looking between the two of them pointedly.

She knew he was wondering why she was the one to be deemed his babysitter.

"I asked you first." She said with a shrug, watching as that brought a smile to his lips, albeit a hesitant one.

"Fair enough." He conceded before sighing.

"Well, honestly, I volunteered to do it." He revealed.

"You volunteered to leave your allegedly fortified and safe _community_ to go gallivanting through the woods to watch strangers then walk up to a group of said strangers with weapons and bad paranoia?" She asked with a fair amount of disbelief.

"When you put it like that..."

"Is there another way to put it?"

Aaron chuckled softly before shaking his head.

"I suppose there isn't." He conceded once more. "But it's something that I knew needed to be done. It's something that I believe in. Like I said earlier, people, good people like your group, you are all vital to the survival of yourselves and others."

"The irony of _people_ being a scarce resource," Amity muttered, shaking her head.

Only a year or so prior, people were overpopulating the Earth and now here they were.

"Now it's your go." Aaron insisted and Amity looked at him with confusion.

"How did you get this job?" He asked, reminding her of his earlier returned question.

"What do you think this job is?" She asked in return and he chuckled again.

"You always answer a question with a question?"

"When it suits me."

"I think you've been told to babysit the stranger. Make sure I don't cut off a hand in an attempt to escape or something." Aaron finally elaborated and Amity had to press her lips together to stop the expression that was trying to rise onto her features at the man's detailed scenario, one that a member of their group had actually found himself in a long while back.

Amity hadn't known Merle then, but she saw the evidence of such desperation for survival every day when she looked at his prosthetic.

"That's not what I'm doing here." She said simply, watching his brow furrow.

"Then what are you doing?" He asked and she smiled, the action small but sharp.

"I'm _reading_ you," Amity told him. "Getting inside your head, finding out if you're lying to us. If my friends are already out there dead, picked off by your people."

Her words seemed to finally succeed in unsettling the rather laidback man. He shifted a bit in his spot on the ground, looking back to where Rick had disappeared before returning his gaze to her.

"So you're a good judge of character?" He asked, his voice not as nervous as she had thought it would be.

"I've had a lot of practice." She said before standing just as Judith's cry echoed through the barn.

The poor baby was hungry. Amity shared the sentiment so she could easily guess what had Judith, a usually docile infant, crying loudly.

The redhead immediately moved to Rick's side, taking the baby from his arms and cradling her to her chest. Still, Judith cried as Amity bounced her, making gentle shushing sounds in an attempt to quiet her as Rick began to crush some acorns in a poor imitation of food.

"You did see the jar of applesauce in my bag, right?" Aaron asked them, looking nervously towards the barn door as the cries continued.

Amity and Rick alike fixed the man under a hard look that he seemed to pick up on.

"This isn't a trick." He assured them. "This isn't about trying to make you like me. It's _self-preservation_ because if the roamers hear her and come this way, I know I'll be the first to go."

Roamers. That was another name for walkers to add to the list.

Amity continued to shush the baby, only pausing when Rick stood and reached out for her.

She immediately passed the infant off and went towards where they had laid out Aaron's supplies.

Picking up the jar of applesauce, Amity considered it for a moment before popping the lid and sniffing it.

She noticed Rick watching her closely and shrugged her shoulders before dipping a finger in it, about to bring the mashed apples to her lips when Rick roughly grasped her wrist.

"What are you doing?" He asked and Amity had to resist repeating Eugene's earlier explanation for testing the water at the road.

"Poisoning his own food would have been counter-productive if he found himself in a bind, Rick," Amity told her friend, but the man didn't seem convinced by her words.

"You're not eating that." He said firmly, wiping her finger off on his jeans before picking up a spoon and dipping it into the sauce and heading towards Aaron.

He held out the spoon to the man who looked at him with disbelief, turning his eyes to Amity as if asking if the man was serious and she just returned his look blankly.

"You think I'm trying to poison your baby daughter?" Aaron asked, but Rick's hand didn't waver. "I'm tied up and you've already expressed a willingness to stab me in the head. How would cruelly killing your daughter in front of you in any way help the situation?"

"Maybe she doesn't die. Maybe she gets sick. Maybe you're the only one that can help her and I just lose." Rick bit out, his words paying homage to the absolute bullshit they had all suffered at the hands of the new world.

"I am the only one who can help her because I have applesauce and we all win," Aaron replied without missing a beat.

Rick pushed the spoon at the man's lips and he shied away.

Amity was now reconsidering if the sauce would have truly been safe to eat.

Aaron seemed more than a little hesitant to taste test it.

"I hate applesauce." Aaron said, "My mom used to make me eat foods I didn't like to make me more manly. Salmon patties, applesauce, and onions. She was a very confused woman who tried her damnedest. I just bring the jar to show that we have apple trees nearby."

Amity couldn't believe he was arguing against the sample due to dislike.

She was now really thinking about how sheltered of a community he must have come from. Amity had eaten plenty of things she hadn't wanted to in order to survive. Dog meat was currently at the top of the list.

"Like you said, you'll be the first to go," Rick told the man.

Finally, Aaron seemed to realize that there wasn't much of a choice in the matter and took a bite of the applesauce, making a face as he did so.

Only then did Rick taste the sauce as well and Amity hurried to grab the jar, handing it off to Rick so that he could feed Judith.

"The community is big enough," Aaron told them as they worked. "We can find a place for you to live where even when she cries, no one, nothing can hear it outside the walls."

"You got 43 minutes," Rick told him in return.

As he spooned a bit of the applesauce into Judith's mouth, Amity couldn't help but smile.

* * *

It was only a little over twenty-five minutes later when the group was filing back into the barn led by Daryl who was immediately followed by Bandit and Abraham who were laden down with full bags.

Amity's eyes widened at the sight of the food as they began to pull it out.

Catching her look, Bandit laughed.

"Time to get some meat back on those bones, Bambi." He teased and the woman rolled her eyes in response.

She caught Aaron watching their interaction, smiling softly as he did until he caught her gaze.

Amity raised a brow and the man met her head on, not flinching under her look. It seemed that he had quickly recovered from the earlier shakiness she had instilled in him.

Daryl appeared at her back like a ghost, the hunter having caught the exchange between the intruder and his woman.

"Y'all have a nice chat in here?" He asked, his gravelly voice soothing to her and she leaned back slightly, her shoulder blade pressing gently against his chest.

"It was something." She said vaguely, turning her head so that she could catch his eyes.

"What are ya thinkin'?" He asked and she noticed that more than one person around them had quieted slightly, listening to their conversation.

Amity wasn't sure if she liked being one of the main contenders in the development of the group's thoughts about a situation, but it didn't seem as if she had a choice in the matter.

"I think that the vehicles were there, that he's been telling the truth, and that they make damn good applesauce," Amity stated with a certainty that had her brother chuckling while others nodded their heads.

Rick had been listening to Amity's recap her thoughts about the man as he dug through the supplies, and only once she had finished did he palm one of the cans and turn to move towards Aaron.

"This, this is ours now." He told the man.

"There's more than enough." Aaron agreed.

"It's ours whether or not we go to your camp." Rick elaborated, turning back to the group.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we go?" Carl asked his father.

"If he were lying or if he wanted to hurt us... but he isn't," Michonne told everyone, gesturing at Amity as if her earlier words were further proof of the man's honesty, "And he doesn't. We need this."

"So we're going, all of us." The swordswoman stated firmly before taking a breath, looking around the group.

"Somebody say something if they feel differently." She implored.

Bandit was nodding his head softly while Michael removed his hat, pushing his fingers through dark curls.

Neither of the men disagreed and neither did Amity.

They needed to at least see the place that Aaron had spoken of, had shown them.

"I don't know, man," Daryl said, his fingertips barely a ghost of pressure on Amity's hip as he still stood so close to her back. "This barn smells like horse shit."

Amity didn't suppress her smile at his words.

"Yeah." Rick agreed after a moment, nodding his head. "We're going."

Hearing their leader say those words was a relief to them all.

"So where are we going?" Rick asked, rounding on Aaron once more. "Where's your camp?"

"Well, every time I've done this, I've been behind the wheel driving recruits back," Aaron explained. "I believe you're good people. I've bet my life on it. I'm just not ready to bet my friends' lives just yet."

As he explained, Michonne had brushed past them all to stand in front of the tied-up man.

"You're not driving." She told him firmly. "So if you want to get home, you'll have to tell us how."

Aaron seemed to weigh his options for a moment before sighing.

"Go north on Route 16." He said.

"And then?" Michonne asked.

"I'll tell you when we get there," Aaron told her, pulling a sigh from Amity.

Another bump in the road to this community came with the man's reluctance.

She understood his hesitation and she knew that none of them would have done differently, but it didn't make it any easier to get past.

"We'll take 23 north. You'll give us directions from there," Rick stated after looking at the map.

"That's- I don't know how else to say it- that's a bad idea," Aaron told him, sounding worried. "We've cleared 16. It'll be faster."

"We'll take 23. We leave at sundown." Rick said, his eyes on the newcomer as he spoke.

"We're doing this at night?" Sasha asked.

"Look, I know it's dangerous, but it's better than riding up to the gates during the day. If it isn't safe, we need to get gone before they know we're there." Rick explained.

"No one is going to hurt you. You're trying to protect your group, but you're putting them in danger." Aaron argued.

"Tell me where the camp is and we'll leave right now," Rick stated and when Aaron stayed silent, he nodded as if he knew that was how the conversation was going to go from the start.

"It's going to be a long night," Rick told the group, looking around him. "Eat. Get some rest if you can."

With that, their leader was leaving the barn and the group began to bustle around.

Amity reached for a can of pears and a small pack of cheese crackers. She tossed the can of pears onto her backpack a few steps away before moving towards Aaron.

The press of a hand on her hip had the woman pausing, looking back to see Daryl staring at her with confusion.

"What are you doin'?" He asked and she gestured towards Aaron.

"He deserves some of his own food, Daryl." She reasoned but he shook his head.

"You don't know him. Don't gotta do nothin' for him." He told her, but she shook her head with a small smile.

"It's not about having to do anything." She said, reaching up to gently run her hand over the scratchy scruff covering his jawline before pulling away.

Approaching Aaron, she was more than aware of the fact that she had a shadow and would have been even if the man didn't look warily behind her as she crouched down next to him.

She unpackaged a cracker and held it out towards the man, ignoring the look of surprise on his face as he regarded the food.

"Eat." She implored him, not wanting to drag the matter out.

When he hesitated, she resisted rolling her eyes.

"I'm not going to offer again." She told him and Aaron leaned forward to gently take the cracker in his mouth.

* * *

When Amity moved outside of the barn with the rest of the group and saw the car and large RV, she found herself smiling.

Memories of Dale's Winnebago came back into her mind and she was only pulled out of them by her brother's large hand resting on the top of her head, mussing her hair in a way that all of the group knew drove her mad.

"You be safe, Bug," Michael told her, his tone more serious than his actions had been when he stopped next to her.

She had been placed in the car with Aaron, Rick, Michonne, and Glenn while the rest of the group would be piling into the RV.

"Always am," Amity reassured her brother who didn't seem like he believed her one bit but pressed a kiss to the top of her head all the same.

He squeezed her arm softly before heading towards the RV.

Amity watched him go, before sucking in a breath and offering a nod and smile towards Daryl who was hovering around the front of the RV.

She knew that he hated them being split up just as much as she did, if not more.

Too often had them being split up led to grief and heartbreak, but Amity had higher hopes for this time around.

Like she had promised Bandit, she was trying again, and with that came having hope.

Hope that she didn't want to think could be crushed once more.

The car ride was quiet, Aaron was sandwiched between Michonne and Amity in the backseat while Glenn drove and Rick rode shotgun.

Their fearless leader was snooping around the car, his natural curiosity showing in his actions as much as his learned suspicion.

As he opened the dashboard, a smile came to Aaron's lips that had Amity leaning over to see the multiple license plates that Rick had discovered.

"Um, I'm trying to collect all 50 states," Aaron explained. "Put them all on a wall in my house."

"You have your own house?" Michonne asked him and Aaron hummed out a confirmation.

A house.

One singular non-changing house.

A home even, Amity could assume.

It was an oddity to think about having one of those now.

"See for yourself." Aaron insisted, nodding towards his bag.

Amity took the pictures as Michonne looked at them before passing them off to her.

"Why don't you have any pictures of your people?" Michonne asked and Amity nodded.

It was a fair question.

"Oh, I took a picture of the whole group, but I didn't get the exposure right. When I tried to develop it later, it just-" Aaron was explaining, but Michonne cut him off, looking over him to Amity.

"Did you ask him the questions?" She asked.

"No," Rick answered for them both.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Amity questioned suddenly, looking at Aaron before Michonne could begin to ask.

"I'm sorry, what?" Aaron asked in reply, looking a bit stunned.

"How many?" Michonne urged.

"I don't know. A lot." Aaron told them.

"How many people?" Amity asked.

"Two," Aaron revealed after only a couple of seconds of hesitation.

The number was true, that much Amity believed.

"Why?" Michonne pursued.

"Because they tried to kill me," Aaron stated simply.

It was then that Rick's snooping bore more fruits and he held up a dish-like object.

"You were listening to us?" Glenn asked sharply.

"I already said I was watching you." Aaron reminded them. "Yes, I was listening."

"That's so skeevy." Amity hissed, feeling her skin crawl at the prospects.

He could hear everything that they had talked about. He could have heard everything from her sobs to their fights, to the desperation behind their voices.

"It means his people could have one, too. They could've heard our plan. This isn't safe." Rick ranted, everyone in the car looking to him.

It was a second too late when Glenn looked back out the windshield.

"Shit!" He yelled as the car slammed into a walker.

"Glenn!" Rick yelled, but the Korean man didn't pump the brakes, instead slamming into more and more walker bodies.

"They were right behind us. They would have hit us. Now they can get out." He explained.

They continued to run down walkers that had wandered into the road, the gore covering the vehicle lending to the assumption that it was a small herd that had taken over the road.

When they finally screeched to a stop, they wasted no time in climbing out of the bloodied car.

"I don't see them," Rick said, looking back down the road behind them.

"No, they're gone. They got away." Glenn called from where he stood on top of the car for a better view.

"Alright, we'll circle back and find them." Rick directed. "Let's go."

Amity piled back into the backseat with Michonne, again sandwiching Aaron between them.

The man looked between them with a fair amount of concern on his face.

"They're okay?" He questioned.

"Yeah," Amity confirmed.

Rick was reading the map as Glenn wiped the gore from the windshield.

"Alright, we can take a left a couple of miles up 23." Rick directed. "Jefferson Avenue."

"Jefferson Avenue," Glenn confirmed.

Glenn turned over the engine but the car didn't start.

Amity cursed from her place in the backseat as he tried again but to no avail.

"Let me see what I can see," Michonne said before climbing out of the car once again.

"They're coming right for us," Aaron told them all.

"We're aware!" Amity snapped at him, pulling her bow from where it had been resting on the floorboards.

"We need to leave now," Rick said and Glenn kept trying to start the car.

"Hold on." He said, but then they were all distracted by a streak of red in the distance.

"Shit," Glenn muttered.

Amity knew a flare when she saw one, but the issue was that _they_ had taken the flare gun.

"Who did that?" Rick asked loudly.

"I need to leave," Aaron said, suddenly looking panicked in a way that set Amity on edge.

"What do you mean?" She asked him, but he was wiggling his way across the seat, evading her hands as she clumsily tried to set aside her bow so that she could grab him.

"This is over. Let me out. I need to get outta here. It's over." He ranted.

"What's going on?" Rick yelled.

"Let me out!" Aaron roared, kicking the door opposite of Amity open.

She heard Michonne cry out and realized that the man had knocked her back as he tore himself from the vehicle.

Struggling out of the car herself, Amity pulled up her bow and went to aim it towards Aaron's retreating form, but Rick's yell stopped her.

"Leave him! We need to find our people!" He told them, but Michonne barely paused in her pursuit of the fleeing man.

"They saw that flare. They'll think we shot it. This is how we find them." She insisted.

With that logic, Amity was racing off towards the woods after the swordswoman and Rick and Glenn were following close behind.

The forest was filled with walkers, the herd spanning further than she thought and she hated to even think of the number that it must have held.

She wished, not for the first time, that there had been a lot fewer people on the Earth when it went to shit.

Firing off a few arrows, Amity soon threw her bow over her shoulder and began to use her machete instead as Rick and Glenn fired their guns.

The noise was something she hated, but it was necessary if they weren't going to be overwhelmed.

Amity stumbled over a root as she drove her machete into the skull of one of the undead, but she didn't fall.

Instead, she found herself dodging the grabbing hands of another walker.

It was annoying when they went after her because of her movements since they ignored her all other times.

The woman couldn't simply stand and watch her friends fight off the undead just to fly under their radar though.

"Where's Glenn?" Rick shouted suddenly and Amity looked wildly around after putting down another walker.

"I don't see him!" She yelled back, grunting as she embedded her machete into a rotting skull.

"Glenn!" Rick yelled, turning as he put himself back-to-back with Michonne and Amity.

"He's got to be somewhere around here." Amity reasoned, still searching the darkness for her friend as her heart pounded in her chest.

"Glenn!" Michonne yelled.

Rick went to shoot one of the walkers coming too close, but Amity heard the tell-tale sound of his gun clicking.

Empty.

They were out of bullets and out of time.

However, their leader was nothing if not creative and he pulled the flare gun from his waistband, pointing it at a walker and firing.

Amity was stunned as the flare lodged itself in the walker's eye socket.

"Nice shot, Cap!" She praised, watching as the walker dropped.

At least the flare still burning in its skull provided them with some light as the other walkers continued to stumble towards them.

Michonne rushed forward to meet them as Amity pulled her bow into her hands and fired off the last of her arrows.

She had just put the now useless weapon back over her shoulder when gunfire erupted behind them and the walkers dropped.

They all turned and Amity noted with relief that Glenn was there and fine.

However, she nearly lunged at the man standing next to him.

Aaron had really screwed them.

"If you really want to tie me up again, that's fine, but hurry up," Aaron told them, putting the gun on the ground.

"No time," Rick stated, bending to scoop up the pistol and gesturing to the woods. "We're going that way."

And that way they went.

Amity kept her machete at the ready as they hurried through the woods, looping around in hopes of finding the rest of their group.

Her stomach rolled at the thought of being separated from them all again, despite the fact that this time she at least had people with her unlike after the prison.

"Where are they?" Rick asked Aaron, his voice a growl.

"I don't know," Aaron told him.

"If this is a trap to get us back where you want us, your people are going to die tonight." Rick threatened before heading off down the road that they had come across.

"The flare was towards the water tower." He explained and Amity looked to Glenn before they both rushed to catch up with their leader.

The walk towards the town hadn't taken all too long, and Amity kept the quick pace that Rick had set with little trouble.

They wandered through the town until they passed an alley with a familiar RV sitting in it and Amity let out a breath of relief before whistling.

The sound was low and keening and she saw Aaron shoot her a look of confusion before another whistle sounded in reply.

She whistled back the signal of being okay, of everyone being accounted for, before they rushed down the alley and she spotted Daryl.

Immediately she broke into a run, throwing herself into the arms of the hunter who easily caught her.

He buried his face in her hair as she clung to him, finally feeling like she could take a deep breath since they had hit the first walker.

"This shit is becoming too much of a habit, woman," Daryl grumbled and Amity laughed, her body shaking slightly against his as the rest of their group emerged from inside to greet them.

Michael tugged her from Daryl's arms, the hunter letting her go reluctantly but seemingly not being willing to argue with the mountain of a man.

"What'd I tell you?" Michael asked as he hugged his sister tightly, the woman returning the hug with just as much force.

"I'm in one piece, am I not?" Amity asked in return.

"Eric? Eric?" Aaron was calling out behind them as everyone greeted one another.

When a voice answered from inside, the man was off like a rocket and Amity turned a questioning look on her brother and significant other.

"Long story," Daryl replied with a shrug and Amity accepted that, reaching out for the hunter once more.

When they found themselves inside, Amity peered around the room the best that she could from amongst the wall of men hovering around her.

She decided then and there that she really needed to stop getting into situations like the one earlier if only so that she could walk five feet without testosterone closing in on her.

She attracted protective Alpha men like a fucking homing beacon apparently.

First, there was her brother, he had been there through her entire life, but at least now he had his own woman to look out for as well. That only helped a bit, however, since Carol was less inclined to get herself in ridiculous situations unlike Amity apparently was.

Then there was Daryl, the man was a given. Protectiveness ran through him like blood, which was something Amity knew good and well when she found herself letting him into her life as more than just an annoyance or a friend.

With Daryl came Merle, which was something she had never expected. Their time facing off against the Governor had brought them together. Despite the terror that was that day, they both had the scars to prove that they had come out on the other side together.

Then finally, there was Bandit.

One of her closest friends, the over-protective Marine had become her shadow since the day he had saved her ass in the car shop.

She was thankful for every single one of them, but that didn't mean that they didn't drive her up the wall.

And that list wasn't including Rick and Glenn, then there was also Maggie, Carol, and now even Rosita was added to the bunch of those-who-kept-an-eye-on-danger-attracting-Amity-Walker.

The woman barely got the chance to pee in peace.

"They're a couple apparently." Michael was explaining to Amity when she had questioned the urgency that had overcome Aaron and told them about his panic in the car when he saw the flare.

"Ohhh." She said, understanding the sheer desperation now. "Make sense."

Aaron had known that his significant other was in danger. She was sure she would have acted the same way.

"Nothin' 'bout that shit makes sense, Princess. Damn unnatural-" Merle began to grumble, but Amity cut him off real quick with a swift kick to his knee.

The eldest Dixon let out a groan, glaring at her just as she glared at him.

"Did I ever tell you about my last relationship, Dixon?" She asked the man who said nothing as he rubbed his tender leg.

"It was my sophomore year of college. Her name was Briana, she was a music major and had the voice of an angel. We broke up because our life plans didn't align." She explained, surprising neither Daryl nor Michael with that information.

It wouldn't have surprised Maggie or Glenn either.

She wasn't shy about it, but it wasn't something that often came up.

With that, Merle seemed like he was going to keep his trap shut for a while and Amity rolled her eyes as he continued to mumble about her trying to break his leg when he was already down an arm.

"Excuse me." Aaron's voice caught the attention of everyone in the room.

Amity took a step forward so that she could peer between Bandit and Daryl.

"Thank you," Aaron said with sincerity, looking between them all. "You saved Eric. I owe you. All of you. And I will make sure that debt is paid in full when we get to our community. When we get to Alexandria. Now, I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather not do any more driving tonight. Maybe we can hit the road tomorrow morning."

"That sounds fine," Rick said, coming out from the doorway that Aaron had just entered through. "But if we're staying here for the night, you're sleeping over there."

"Rick," Amity said, his name a warning.

"You really think we got to do that?" Maggie asked.

"It's the safe play." Rick insisted, looking at Aaron. "We don't know you."

"The only way you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me," Aaron stated.

Again, Amity couldn't fault him. She would have been the same way if it was Daryl laid up in that room

As the silence continued, Aaron went to move towards the door that Rick was blocking and thankfully, Glenn intervened.

"Whoa." He said, holding up a hand to stop Aaron before turning to their leader.

"Rick, he told us where the camp is and he really was only traveling with one other person." He reasoned. "They're both unarmed. One of them's got a broken ankle. I want us to be safe, too."

"I can't give up everything else." Glenn continued when Rick stayed silent. "I know what I said, but it does matter."

"Alright." Rick conceded, taking a step back.

Once Aaron went back into the room, tension left everyone and Amity turned back to Daryl who was looking at her closely.

She raised a brow at the man and he reached out, using a thumb to wipe her cheek and she assumed he was trying to get some of the blood off that must have covered her from killing the walkers in the woods.

"I look rough, huh?" She asked him.

Bandit had wandered away a few moments ago, Merle following suit after Michael was pulled away by Carol.

"You ain't too bad," Daryl told her, pulling a laugh from her.

"Thanks, Dixon." She said, shaking her head. "You've always been such a sweet talker. You're not too bad yourself."

Snorting, Daryl rolled his eyes at the redhead and moved his hand from her cheek to gently tug a loose strand of red hair that framed her face.

"Get some sleep, Am." He told her.

"You first." She countered.

"I've got watch."

"You've always got watch."

"Someone's got to-"

"I'll do it, you sleep." Amity reasoned but Daryl was having none of it.

He went to argue with her, but the tap of fingers against his arm had him pausing to glance over. Bandit had approached the pair, apparently hearing their argument because he looked between them with amusement.

"I've got first watch, man. Get some sleep while you can. I'll be kicking your ass awake before you know it." The Marine said and though Daryl wasn't particularly fond of the other male, he knew to take good shit when he could.

"Wake me in a couple of hours," Daryl grunted at him and Bandit nodded, flashing a smile at Amity, a playfulness behind his eyes that had her laughing as he headed towards the door they had come in.

"You heard the guy, Cheif. Sleep time." Amity declared, wasting no time in tugging Daryl along to a slightly secluded corner of the room.

The pair settled down, their bags being used as pillows for Daryl while Amity commandeered his arm for that purpose instead.

She had an arm thrown across his broad chest, a leg draped over his, as she cuddled up as close to him as she could.

"You're like a damn leech," Daryl grumbled, though his fingers carded gently through her now loose hair.

The woman couldn't stand to sleep with it tied up, much to his annoyance since the mess of curls liked to attack him in the night. They tickled his nose and everything else until he could hardly stand it.

"You love me," Amity stated, her voice sleepy and he froze for a moment before forcing himself to relax.

It was a knee-jerk reaction to something that he already knew to be true.

He loved the crazy ginger woman more than anything else.

He reckoned with the way that she clung to him that she just might love him too if he was so lucky.

Though luck had never been on his side in the past, Daryl couldn't stop himself from hoping for at least this.

"You reckon?" He asked, his voice rumbling through his chest that Amity was laying against.

"Yep, I sure do reckon," Amity replied, mocking his accent though the teasing sting that she surely meant for it to have was softened by the sleep-heavy slur in her voice.

"I reckon so too." Daryl agreed, his voice barely above a whisper, not that it would have mattered since he was nearly positive that Amity was now asleep against him.

It was true.

He reckoned he loved Amity Walker.


	49. Chapter 49

When they finally hit the road again, Amity found herself sitting on the floor of the RV with Bandit.

Noah leaned against the wall only a step or so away from them, his eyes trained out the window so she reached out and tugged his shoelaces, making quick work of untying them.

When she had pulled her hand away the shoe followed and the owner of said shoe gently kicked the redhead's shoulder as he scowled.

"Really?" He asked, his words annoyed but his tone more amused exasperation than holding any sting.

Looking up at him, Amity offered one of her best and brightest smiles.

"Wasn't me." She told the boy who rolled his eyes at her, a smile now on his lips as well.

After so long with Carl and Beth, Amity had gotten quite skilled at playfully lightening the mood. Both of the Walkers had it seemed since Michael was always looking to tease Amity in an attempt to amuse the others.

"Who was it then?" Noah asked her and Amity shrugged, still holding onto her act of innocence.

"Not a clue, No, but it definitely wasn't me," Amity replied.

The young man let out a scoff of disbelief, bending down to retie his shoe and swatting Amity's hands away as she tried to stop him.

He grabbed one of her hands, slender fingers holding hers still as she laughed, but his eyes were drawn to the mostly healed scars that encircled her wrists.

Amity had been able to ditch her bandages a while back, the wounds a little over a month or so old.

In places they were still scabbed, the messy way she had shredded them against the wires being difficult to heal, but for the most part they were scarred up nicely.

That is if you considered scars nice.

Amity figured that they were better than the alternative- an infected open wound.

Following his eyes and sudden somber expression, the woman sucked in a small breath before gently pulling her hand from his hold.

Noah let her take it, standing quietly for a moment before reaching for the bottle of medicine on the table.

"I'm going to see if Aaron wants something... for his wrists, you know?" Noah explained.

His thoughtfulness touched Amity, bringing a warmth to her chest that had her smiling gently at him and reaching out to pat his knee in approval.

There was no doubt that their group had been through hardships, that she had been through more than her fair share, but if they inspired compassion and kindness then there was at least a silver lining.

"He's a good kid." Bandit said from where he sat next to her, watching Noah duck into the back room of the RV like she had been.

"Yeah, he is." Amity agreed, her own fingertips ghosting over her scarred wrists.

"They'll fade over time." He added, his eyes drawn to where Noah's had been and Amity absent-mindedly nodded her head.

She knew that the marks bothered Bandit just as they bothered everyone else in their group, if not more.

She hoped that he didn't blame himself for them. She had been the one to struggle, to hurt herself before being saved, but in her defense, she had no way of knowing that a random Marine was going to swoop in to save her.

The pair sat quietly from that point on, listening to Eugene explain a card game while Noah returned from the back room.

Amity pushed herself to her feet, moving towards the front of the RV just to use the mirrors to take a peek at the car that was following them.

This time around, it was Daryl who was separated from her as he was riding in the car behind them with Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Judith.

"I've been keeping an eye on them. If they disappear, you will all hear about it." Rosita said, catching on to the woman's worry as she leaned a bit to the side.

"Thanks," Amity told her, her voice gentle and she caught Abraham's eye in the rearview.

"Hm?" She hummed out in question to the look he was giving her, but the redhead just shook his head and Amity decided to let it go.

"Abraham. Look." Rosita said suddenly, pointing out the windshield and Amity ducked so that she could catch a glimpse of the familiar buildings that had once made up their country's capital.

Amity had visited D.C. more than once in her life due to the close proximity of her graduate school.

She had made friends around the area when she lived there, but they had become more and more distant once she moved back to Georgia.

"Eyes on the road, champ." She heard Rosita say and that's when she ducked back into the main part of the RV, smiling at Glenn as she passed him.

After that, it wasn't too much longer before they were slowly rolling to a stop.

Amity stood as everyone else did, looking at Abraham with curiosity as he cursed and spat before heading to climb out.

The rest of them followed suit.

Now, the woman sat on top of the RV with her feet dangling over the edge, appreciative of the breeze she was catching on her still rather tender but only slightly reddened skin.

Daryl was on his feet, his eyes watching over the perimeter as usual while the majority of their group waited for the verdict on the vehicle.

At the front of the RV, Glenn was leaned over the engine while Abraham stood by.

Amity was surprised that Daryl wasn't down there, but she remembered how often the Asian man had fiddled with the Winnebago under Dale's knowledgeable guidance and realized that it made the most sense.

She let her feet swing, the heels of her boots bouncing softly off of the side of the RV as they waited.

"You ever stop twitchin'?" Daryl asked, drawing Amity's eyes from the treeline to him.

She squinted against the sun as she looked up at him, smiling with more ease than she had been able to in a long while.

"I'm just eager." She reasoned and he seemed to consider her words for a moment before nodding.

"You think this is gonna be all good?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I don't know if it's going to be _all_ good, I mean, it's going to be a hell of a change, but if Alexandria is like Aaron and Eric say it is, and I believe that it is, then it's going to be good, yeah." She told him.

The man didn't seem too convinced as he scanned the land around them. Amity knew that he was still on edge over the whole thing, the unknown keeping him on his toes, but she could also see that he wasn't as wary of the idea of the community as Rick was.

"It's going to be okay, Dare, and even if it's not, we'll all get through it together." She reassured, holding his gaze when it turned back to her.

The sudden rumbling of the engine beneath them distracted them both and Amity quietly cheered along with Tara and a few others at the sound of the running RV.

Scooting back, Amity pulled her legs back up to the roof and took Daryl's hand that was outstretched towards her.

The hunter pulled her to her feet with little effort, one rough hand gliding against her neck as he gently grasped her head and tugged her closer to him, pressing a firm kiss to her forehead.

The action was quick and fleeting, but it made Amity smile all the same as the man moved towards the ladder to climb down.

This time, Daryl and Michael switched places and it was the hunter who rode in the RV instead of her brother.

Amity found herself sitting on the floor once more, her leg bouncing as she absent-mindedly fiddled with Daryl's fingers.

He had offered his hand for her to hold on to, apparently sensing how quickly her eagerness had morphed into nerves, but he hadn't expected her to just mess around with his hand.

She parted his thick fingers, bending them and lightly trailing her fingertips over his knuckles, as her eyes stayed trained on the front windshield.

Daryl searched for the words to comfort her, to soothe and reassure her like she had done for him earlier, but they didn't come to mind.

It was only when her blue eyes turned to him and he gave her a small nod that he seemed to be able to make any impact at all.

The action had her lips twitching into a small smile and she nodded in return only to sit up straighter, her eyes widening, as the RV rolled to a stop.

"We're gonna be alright, Amity," Daryl grumbled, leaning close to the woman once they had all risen to their feet.

Slowly, they piled out of the car and her eyes widened that much more at the sight of the large walls and gate ahead of them.

She found herself between Daryl and Merle as they approached the gate, her brother trailing along behind them as Bandit walked in front, his dark eyes narrowed as he seemed to be searching the walls for weak points.

She felt like she was being herded, but she appreciated the security of their actions nonetheless.

Amity held on to the belief that this was a good thing.

That the chatter and laughter she could hear from inside the community meant that it was full of good people, not monsters.

She reached for Daryl's hand, but the sound of something rattling nearby had them all jumping, turning to point weapons towards the threat.

Amity drew back her bow, one of the few arrows she had recovered nocked into place but it was Daryl who let a bolt fly.

The yelp of an animal reached her ears and as Daryl tugged the skewered possum from the undergrowth, Amity was relieved that it at least wasn't a dog this time.

It was only then that she turned and realized the gate had opened and that there was a man standing next to Aaron who was looking at them like they had just crawled out of the trash pile themselves.

"We brought dinner," Daryl said, sizing the other man up and Amity snorted.

"I'm not putting that in my bag," She told him, harking back to their first run for formula after Judith's birth.

She could have sworn she caught the twitch of Daryl's lips as he fought back a smile, but then Aaron broke the tension the rest of the group was feeling.

"It's okay." He told the community member before gesturing towards their group. "Come on in, guys."

Amity followed the rest of the group as they slowly entered through the gate, their eyes roving over the surrounding area.

She gripped her bow tightly, her nerves being betrayed only by the tension in her shoulders.

Her hands were steady. Her eyes were sharp.

The squeal of the gate rolling back into place behind them was an ominous sound.

As it clanged shut, it rang with a finality that had Amity shifting her weight between the balls of her feet.

Sure, she was excited about the prospects of the community, but she wasn't naive.

Not anymore.

She had collected enough scars- her wrists, her face, the bullet wounds on her torso and arm, and the bite on her shoulder- to know better than to put blind faith in _anything_.

"Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons." The man who had been stood at the gate said. "Stay, you hand them over."

Amity watched as Rick prowled to the front of their group, still somehow managing to be intimidating with Judith in his arms.

"We don't know if we want to stay," Rick told him.

"It's fine, Nicholas," Aaron reassured the guy.

"If we were gonna use them, we would have started already," Rick said pointedly.

"Let them talk to Deanna first." Aaron continued.

"Who's Deanna?" Abraham asked loudly, voicing all of their thoughts.

"She knows everything you'd want to know about this place," Aaron explained, his eyes on their leader.

After their time in the barn, it seemed that Aaron knew that placating Rick led to the rest of them being easier to handle as well.

"Rick, why don't you start?" He suggested.

The snarling of a walker had Amity tilting her head, determining that it was outside of the gate as Rick eyed it down.

"Sasha." He said, prompting the woman who was closest to the gate to turn and aim, firing a silenced shot and putting down the walker for good.

With that taken care of, the second layer of the gate, the part that was actually covered, began sliding into place and Rick turned to look between Aaron and Nicholas.

"It's a good thing we're here." He told them.

Now, Amity was again moving with the pack that their group had become as they followed Aaron to this Deanna woman's house.

Apparently, she was something like the leader of Alexandria and to get in, you had to pass her test.

Of course, Aaron hadn't worded it like that, but Amity was more than able to read between the lines of his words.

They had a test for newcomers back at the prison, it made sense that Alexandria had one too.

What unsettled Amity was the way that they led them inside one at a time.

It was something that had Daryl on edge as well as he paced on the lawn in front of her.

She sat on the front porch railing, the rest of the group spread out around her on the porch, on the steps, and on the front lawn and street curb.

Her eyes were trained out on the rows of houses, noting the people that walked by and looked at them with curiosity, distaste, or even fear.

She noted how there were a few people peeking out their windows to watch them and Amity realized that they must have been the first group to be taken in after a long while.

"Amity," Aaron called out from the front door, looking at her with a smile as Glenn squeezed by him.

A few others from their group had already gone in and out of this Deanna's home, and now it seemed that it was her turn.

As she hopped down from the railing Daryl seemed to teleport to her side, fixing a hard look on both Aaron and the house behind him.

"Hey, it's fine, Killer. Everyone else has been fine." She reassured the hunter, brushing her knuckles over his arm.

The action had his eyes flickering to her, a deep frown on his lips.

"Everyone else ain't you." He told her, making her chuckle lightly.

"I guess not." She conceded. "If something is out of place, if she even looks at me wrong, I'll scream my fucking lungs out and you can come to the rescue, okay?"

Daryl seemed to consider her bargain, one that was similar to the one they had made in the aisles of the Big Spot they had gone to on that run for the prison.

"You gonna tell her?" He asked, confusing Amity for a moment before she caught his pointed look and shrugged.

"I feel like I have to. We can't start this out with lies." She reasoned.

"Ya don't have'ta do shit," Daryl told her firmly.

Smiling softly, her absolute adoration for the rough man in front of her shining through, Amity gently patted his chest, feeling the leather of his vest under her fingertips.

"I know, Chief." She told him, taking a step away and turning towards the door and Aaron.

"Fifteen minutes." The hunter called out from behind her, making both her and Aaron pause.

"Tell that woman she's got fifteen minutes before I'm gonna be comin' in there." He clarified and Aaron nodded a bit hesitantly.

Following the man into the house, Amity let herself look around at the place.

It was immaculate, everything looking clean and put in place, but she admitted there was a certain warmth to it that actually made it feel like a lived-in home.

Entering what seemed to be the front sitting room, Amity stopped at the threshold as a woman rose from the couch to her feet.

"Hello. I'm Deanna Monroe." She greeted with a smile, glancing at Aaron who stood over her shoulder.

"Amity," Amity replied cautiously.

It was obvious that the woman has been expecting Aaron to immediately leave but he lingered.

"There's, uh, you only will have fifteen minutes to talk to her alone," Aaron informed the woman who looked confused.

"Her husband is the protective sort." He explained further and Amity didn't bother to correct the man, knowing that it would just lead to more questions and required explanations.

"I see," Deanna said slowly, and Amity wondered if she really did. "Then let's get started right away. Thank you, Aaron."

With that, the only familiar face was dismissed and Amity was left looking at the woman who decided her group's fate in regards to Alexandria.

"Please, come in and take a seat." Deanna requested, gesturing to the couch that she had previously vacated.

Amity considered it for a moment but then relented, heading towards the sofa and taking a seat. As she did, she caught sight of the camera set up and her brow furrowed.

"Oh yes, do you mind if I film this?" Deanna asked, throwing Amity for a moment.

She wanted to film her? Did she film them all?

Daryl was not going to be on board with that.

"Oh, uh, sure... but why?" Amity asked.

"We're about transparency here," Deanna explained and the redhead considered that for a moment before pursing her lips and nodding.

With that, Deanna hit record before moving to take a seat across from her.

"I just have a few questions for you, Amity. I just want to get to know who you are, who your group is, and why Alexandria might be the right fit for you." She explained.

Amity felt like she was interviewing for graduate schools and internships again.

With a dip of her chin, she agreed to be questioned.

"How long have you been out there?" Deanna asked.

"Since the beginning," Amity replied honestly.

"How did you all find each other? Did you know each other before or-?"

"Michael's my brother. He is the only one that I knew from before."

"Even your husband?"

"Daryl's not my husband, but we are together," Amity explained, finally clarifying that point.

"Was he with you when everything happened?" Deanna asked and Amity suppressed the urge to snort.

When _everything_ happened.

The Outbreak was everything to everyone nowadays.

It was the turning point. The point of no return.

"No, we hadn't met yet," Amity said.

"What about your brother?" Deanna asked.

"He wasn't either. I was on my own for about two months before I found some of these guys, Daryl included. They were being attacked by walkers." Amity explained.

"So you saved them?"

"I _helped_ them." She clarified.

"And your brother ended up finding you or was he with them?"

"He found me later on. The group and I found somewhere to stay for a while and one day he just rode up on a horse, following Rick's car," Amity said, a small smile on her lips at the memory.

"It sounds like he loves you very much to look for you like that," Deanna said kindly, smiling as well.

Amity simply looked at her.

When she smiled there was something almost familiar about the woman.

"I was a congressperson. Ohio, 15th district. You?" Deanna asked her, keeping the questions rolling.

It was almost an explanation for her familiarity, but Amity would have had no reason to recognize the face of an Ohian Congresswoman.

"Does it matter?" Amity asked in return.

"It does," Deanna stated firmly.

With a twist of her lips, Amity considered that before nodding.

"I was a clinical neuropsychologist." She informed her and the woman seemed interested in that revelation, leaning forward a bit.

"Do you have medical training?" Deanna asked.

"I have a working knowledge of the brain and basic biological function. I am trained in mental health." She elaborated and Deanna nodded, not seeming perturbed by her answer at all.

"That's great. We have a woman who was a psychiatrist." Deanna informed her and Amity nodded slowly.

That was interesting at least.

The woman should have way more medical know-how than Amity being that she actually had to go through medical school rather than a doctorate program, but she also would have the psychological insight that Amity would love to discuss.

"How is this place still like this?" Amity asked suddenly and Deanna chuckled at the question.

"This place was founded as the start of sustainability, that's what the brochures we found say," Deanna explained. "This was a planned community with its own solar grid, cisterns, eco-based sewage filtration."

That was a very interesting concept.

Amity remembered Jenner telling them that everything was shutting down piece by piece, that relying on fossil fuel was a part of their downfall, and it seemed that it truly was. This place was lasting and it was because it was made to be sustained.

"So you found it and you put up the wall?" Amity asked, seeming to be doing the interviewing now.

"Well, there was this huge shopping mall being built nearby and my husband Reg is a professor of architecture. Like I said, who someone was can end up mattering quite a bit. He got the first plates up with our sons and after a few weeks, more people arrived and we had help. We had a community." Deanna told her.

It was a nice founding story, but Amity could barely believe what she was hearing.

"So you've been behind these walls this entire time?" She asked and something in her voice must have given away her incredulity.

These people were soft, _sheltered_ , no wonder Aaron was so eager to bring their group of hardened survivors back. They needed the muscle.

They were going to be used as a guard force.

"We need people who have lived out there. Your group is the first we've even considered taking in for a long time." Deanna told her, but Amity was already shaking her head.

"You don't know. You don't know what it's like out there. You can't just get by without knowing." She said, finding herself getting upset, getting 'twitchy' as Daryl called it.

She found herself on her feet, Deanna rising too as and holding out placating hands but Amity shied away from her.

"We are _not_ your personal armed guard. We are _not_ people to put between you and what's out there." Amity spat.

"That's not what this is about, Amity. It's not." Deanna told her firmly, trying to calm her.

"You don't know who we are! You don't know what we've been through!" Amity snapped.

"So then tell me, Amity. Tell me what you've been through." Deanna said calmly.

The redhead looked at the older woman, her chest heaving as her body had flipped immediately into fight-or-flight mode as she found herself distressed.

"I met a man when I first helped the group who was bitten and he had us leave him behind and alone to turn." Amity began, her voice flat but hard.

"Some of us were locked in the CDC while a timer counted down our death until the man holding us let us out last second and we had to run for our lives while the place exploded behind us. Someone chose to stay behind." She continued, her fingernails cutting into her palms with how tightly her hands were clenched. "The CDC had scans of the brain of someone before, during, and after infection. I took those scans."

Deanna was quiet as Amity spoke, her mouth set in a pressed line but she didn't seem like she was going to interrupt so Amity continued.

"A herd came after we left there. We were on the road and the man I was scavenging with got cut up real bad. Daryl saved us both when a herd came through. A little girl was chased by some of the walkers and got lost in the woods. We tried for days to find her. Carl was shot through the chest by a man in the woods as we looked. We ran him to a man who was said to be able to help. He did help, but the man who had shot him accidentally died trying to get medical supplies. Rick and I gave a lot of blood."

Amity barely took a breath between tales now.

"One of our members killed the man who shot Carl while they were out. He went off the deep end, scarred up my face. He opened the barn where we were staying and we found the lost little girl. She was a walker."

Shaking her head at the memory of Shane, Amity forced herself to take a deep breath.

"I killed a man in town who was going to take me and kill my friends. A member of our group was attacked by a walker. The man who scarred up my face was a good friend. He's dead now. A herd ran us off of the farm, people died."

"We found each other somehow. Kept moving. I lost the brain scans, but there was no going back. We found a prison. We took the prison and found prisoners. Judith was born. More of our group died. Maggie, Glenn, and I were taken. I was shot. A man threw Glenn into a room to fight for his life while he... he was a sick man, called himself the Governor, but our group came for us and we got out. We met the Governor then Merle tried to kill him, I went along, we were both shot. I thought Merle was dead. The Governor tried to take the prison but we fought him off. He escaped."

The prison and Governor seemed to intrigue Deanna, but there was also sadness behind her eyes.

"We grew the prison into a community... kind of like here. We went on runs and sometimes people died, but it wasn't as bad as it had been." Amity explained, thinking back to both finding and losing Zach. "There was a doctor at the prison... a friend. He convinced me that I had to try to get my research on the Outbreak back and I thought so to so I returned to the farm that was overrun with my brother."

It was only then that she paused, pressing her lips together as she considered it.

"I have been assaulted, shot twice, tied up, nearly raped, locked up, cut all to hell, and nearly _eaten_." She listed off, losing her ability to recount the more recent of the events so openly as she had their beginnings.

She watched Deanna's eyes grow wider as she ranted.

"You should keep your gates closed." She stated firmly and Deanna raised a brow.

"Why?"

"Because it's survival of the fittest and people will do anything in order to be the fittest," Amity told her.

"Rick said something similar," Deanna informed her.

"Rick knows better than most." Amity reasoned.

"We may have been behind these walls, Amity, but we have still lost people. We have all still done things. _I_ have done things." Deanna told her.

"What have you done?" Amity asked derisively.

"I exiled three men who didn't work out. And we both know that's as good as killing them." Deanna explained and after a moment, Amity nodded.

"You claimed that being your guard dogs wasn't what you wanted from us, so what is it that you want?" She asked.

"These families should be able to raise their children in a safe environment. You should be safe to live a happy life with your partner, to make a family. I don't want to use you as shields, I want you to help us survive while we help you survive too and I know you can do that."

Amity considered her claim carefully, glancing at the clock to see that there was barely a minute left in their conversation before Daryl would be rushing through the front door, more than likely with Merle, Michael, and Bandit at his heels.

"I'm bitten," Amity stated suddenly, her eyes locked with Deanna's.

She watched as the woman's jaw dropped slightly, a hint of fear flashing behind her eyes as her hands raised. In the next second, the fear was pushed away and the woman was lifting her chin, looking carefully at Amity.

"We can make you comfortable." She said carefully and Amity was thrown by that response.

"What?"

"We have a doctor here, medication, we can make sure that you go peacefully for you and your people," Deanna explained.

"I'm not going any-" Amity began, but her words were cut off by the sound of the front door slamming open, a scuffle of feet and deep voices being heard moments before Daryl appeared in the threshold of the room with Aaron behind him, followed by Merle and Bandit as expected who were avoiding being grabbed by the guy from the front gate.

Michael slowly wandered his way in after their chaos, looking around the place before finding Amity's eyes and smiling.

He had been the least concerned about her well-being and it turned out he was right, she was fine.

"Time's up," Daryl grumbled as he stepped further into the room, eyeing Deanna with distrust as he held a dirty rough hand out towards Amity.

With an amused scoff and a shake of her head, Amity moved towards Daryl and softly placed one of her hands in his outstretched one.

"We can ensure that her passing is easy," Deanna said, speaking up as she looked at Daryl before her eyes moved between the others.

Her words were the wrong ones to be said as every man in the room tensed, Aaron looking shocked and stunned at her words.

"What the hell did you just say?" Daryl snarled, tugging Amity behind him now as Bandit moved to his side.

Amity was the only one aware of where the confusion lay.

"No, wait, Daryl. She didn't mean it like-" Amity began but Merle spoke over her.

"If ya think anyone in this snobby ass fluff fest is gonna be able to lay a hand on one of our people, on _her_ , without our say so then you are loonier than your fairy recruiter, lady," The eldest Dixon snapped.

"Deanna, what-" Aaron began to question, disregarding Merle's slight as he looked at his community's leader with confusion.

Amity cut off his question by grabbing a handful of Bandit's shirt and tugging, making the man stumble slightly as he was unprepared for her to do such a thing, but she now had an opening to get between Deanna and the protective hard-heads of her group.

"I told her about the bite just before you barged your asses on in here!" She half-yelled, making sure that the testosterone-filled idiots around her were listening. "I didn't get the chance to explain that I got bit _months_ ago."

Immediately, her words had the men shifting from enraged protectors into confused men before they seemed to realize what happened. Only Michael had the grace to look sheepish over the way they had all crowded her, ready to tear everyone in the community apart.

" _Months?_ " Deanna echoed just as Aaron asked, "You were bitten?"

* * *

 **A big thank you to everyone that left reviews on the last chapter! It really helped me to get up the muse and motivation to write this chapter and get well into the next one so it is much appreciated!**

 **I'm glad to hear that this story is being enjoyed and even helping some of you escape for a bit when things get rough.**

 **Honestly, that's the real goal behind story telling, at least for me.**

 **I hope that you all continue to enjoy this work! Let me know your thoughts on this chapter, everything so far, and what you'd like to see to ( or want to predict will ) come!**

 **xx**


	50. Chapter 50

It hadn't taken that much longer for Amity's interview to conclude, Michael staying behind with Deanna as her next person to talk to while the rest of them filed out the front door to be met with the curious and tense expressions of the rest of their group.

Seeing them, Amity couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"That was a blast, let's never do it again." She told them, getting a couple of chuckles in response.

Frankly, Deanna's reaction to Amity being bitten was better than anyone could have hoped for.

After they all got past the initial confusion and it was hashed out that for once, no one wanted Amity dead, things went pretty smoothly from there.

Deanna ordered Amity to meet with their doctor, a man named Pete, for a basic checkup to soothe any minds over her circumstance. This worked out well since Deanna was also wanting Amity to do psychological screenings for the community much like she had at the prison.

Though they had a psychiatrist within their walls, apparently Deanna had deemed to woman too timid and trusting to stick into a room with whatever newcomers they brought in.

Amity felt that that would be the case with the majority of Alexandria.

None of them seemed to know what went on outside the walls, let alone what to do with their group as new additions.

"They're still your guns. You can check them out whenever you go beyond the wall. But inside here, we store them for safety." Deanna told them after an Alexandrian woman rolled up a cart and they conceded to turning in their firearms.

Amity held on tightly to her bow, trying to feel out whether or not they would take it from her or Daryl's crossbow from him.

People tended to underestimate the effectiveness of the weapons and frankly, Amity wasn't complaining over it. It was something that worked to their advantage.

It seemed that Carol was also using people's tendency to underestimate to her advantage as she feigned struggling to take off her larger gun, handling it with a timidity that would have pulled a snort of derision from the redhead had she been stupider than she was.

She saw Carol's game and she respected it. It was one that Amity had played herself before and one that she probably would have then as well if not for her already showing her hand to Deanna.

The former Congresswoman was fairly sharp, and Amity doubted that she would buy that Amity had survived all she had recounted to her if she was a meek helpless woman. Despite what the overprotective men crowding around her all appeared to think, she wasn't helpless.

She wasn't sure she could do a good job pretending to be anymore, but it seemed that she was at least allowed to keep her bow so she won nonetheless.

Carol retreated to Michael's side, her helpless play-acting helped that much more by the imposing figure Michael struck and his obvious attachment to the woman.

Anyone would assume Carol was alive because of Michael and they definitely would be assuming wrong.

"Should have brought another bin." The Alexandrian woman quipped as she pulled the cart away and Amity smirked.

"You don't last long traveling light on weaponry out there, sweetheart," Bandit said, his face impassive but his eyes regretful as he watched his gun be carried that much further from his grasp.

It was clear to Amity by the way he kept shifting and recrossing his arms over his chest that he felt naked without it.

"Better get used to it, Rambo," Amity told her friend as they followed the group along to wherever they were being led by Rick and Carl. "We're back amongst the civilized now."

"I never did too well with those types," Merle said from where he walked a pace ahead of them.

"Who _you_?" Bandit asked, feigning shock as he locked over at Amity and Daryl with a barely suppressed smile. "Never would have guessed it."

"Hardy-har, Jarhead." Merle snapped back but Bandit's amused smile simply grew.

They stopped in front of two large houses that mimicked those that had been lining the immaculate streets that they followed.

Amity considered them both before edging closer to the front of the group so that she could eye up the place and turned to look at Rick, pointing at the larger of the two houses.

"That one." She stated and watched as the leader's lips twitched.

"Yeah, that's what Carl decided too," Rick said, shaking his head before gesturing them all towards the house.

Climbing the front steps, Amity tried to not look like a moon-eyed calf as she stepped through the threshold.

Behind her, Merle let out a low whistle.

"This was a house for one family." He rasped, shaking his head and Amity could basically see the cogs turning in the older man's head.

"Don't dirty up or break anything, Dixon. We've gotta live here." Amity told him sternly, stopping Merle in his tracks since he was reaching for a particularly ornate looking vase.

"Who lives like this?" Merle grumbled to his brother who looked even more uncomfortable in the place than the eldest Dixon.

"Amity did," Michael said and she scoffed in response.

"Hardly. My place had probably two-thirds the square footage of this and I would have killed for the sustainable features. The kitchen looks a hell of a lot like mine did though. It's actually kind of unsettling." She lamented, gesturing towards the kitchen with a wave of a hand.

Turning back to the group, she found a lot of them looking at her with amusement, surprise, or derision.

Tough crowd.

"Princess Amity, everyone." Merle taunted, offering a mock bow in her direction and she aimed a swift kick towards his balls but the man was learning to dodge her lashing out better and better each day.

"Alright, knock it off," Rick said, his voice calling all of their attention to the center of the house. "I got a surprise for y'all."

* * *

A shower.

A real life, hot, water-flowing-from-a-faucet _shower_.

Amity was in heaven.

Not only did she get to shower, but she got to shave and not since the prison had she felt so much like her old self. Even there though, the general decor had stopped her from feeling too much like they were back before the outbreak.

Knowing she had spent too long under the steaming spray, Amity climbed out and grabbed a towel to dry herself off, wrapping her hair up in it before her reflection caught her eye.

Maybe she felt like her old self, maybe even looked more like her now with the lack of caked on walker blood and sweat, but there was a definite difference.

She was hard lean muscle now, different from the shape she maintained from her old morning jogs. Same wild ginger hair, blue eyes, and freckles- however now her hair lacked product to tame it and there was not a lick of makeup on her sunburnt face.

Quickly tugging on the change of clothes that she had chosen from the earlier bundle brought to the house, Amity decided that she had enough mirror time for a while.

"Well lookie at you, Mrs. Rhee," Amity said when she descended the stairs and spotted her best friend in the living room, having apparently finished her own shower at the other house.

At her catcall, Maggie turned to her with a smile that was nearly as bright as the one Amity had been used to at one point in time.

"Lookie at yourself, Amity. We almost look like usual women our age again." Maggie said, gesturing for Amity to twirl which had the redhead shoving her and rolling her eyes.

There was honestly nothing special about either of their outfits, but Amity was in _clean_ dark jeans and a flowing _unstained_ white tank top that actually fit her.

It was special enough to them.

"Nothing usual about any of this," Amity said, sobering up a bit as she sighed.

This may have been something similar to her old life, but she felt awkward in it all now.

"I know." Maggie agreed, looping her arm through Amity's and they made their way out onto the front porch.

Immediately, Amity's eyes were drawn to Daryl who was sat on the front steps with bloody hands and a dissected woodland creature in front of him.

She wasn't sure whether to laugh or sigh.

"Really, Dare? Had to scare off the neighbors that fast?" Amity asked, letting go of Maggie as the brunette turned to talk to Carol.

She passed Rick and Carl on her way to crouch down beside her significant other.

"Not my problem if the damn neighbors scare easy." He grumbled, shooting her a quick glance but pausing once he got a look at her.

"I know, right? Bet you forgot what I looked like under all that gunk." She joked, trying to keep the mood light as she could sense his unease.

"Never could forget them freckles," Daryl said, the comment bringing a flush of heat to Amity's cheeks as her smile softened.

Reaching out to him, her aim had been to wipe a thumb across his cheek and clean off at least a bit of his own dirty armor but he leaned out of her reach, causing her to frown.

"'M gonna get you dirty," He mumbled and Amity rolled her eyes.

"I think I'll live." She remarked and he just shook his head.

Again, Amity knew that his temper was resting just beneath the surface due to his obvious discomfort with the community so, with a sigh, she sat back on her heels and decided not to push.

"Want to explore?" She asked after Carl had passed them by on his way down the steps, followed closely by Carol.

"Need to look around. Set a perimeter." Daryl said as he shook his head, looking over to Rick who nodded.

"Good idea." He agreed and Amity had to resist sighing again.

"Don't go off alone," Daryl told her, pushing himself to his feet now that Rick was descending the steps to follow through with Daryl's suggestion.

The hunter paused, his hand raising as if he was going to touch her but he dropped it within the next second.

"Watch each other's backs." She told him, stepping into his space even as he tried to move away and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before heading back towards the house.

* * *

"You're welcome to sit, Daryl. I won't bite."

Deanna had unsettled Daryl from the moment he saw her. He didn't like her taking the group into her home one-by-one and their initial interaction where he thought she had was threatening Amity didn't help the case.

Now, only after Michael and Merle, it was Daryl's turn to talk to her.

"Yeah, I'm all right." He declined.

He knew his restlessness was showing his unease in front of her and the camera, but he couldn't bring himself to sit down, to not scan the room or mess with the things on her shelf.

Looking at a few out of place books, Daryl had no doubt that it was his brother who had fucked with them.

"Daryl, do you want to be here?" Deanna asked.

That caught his attention.

 _Did he want to be there?_

"The boy and the baby, they deserve a roof." He reasoned after a moment.

"And Amity?" She asked and Daryl bristled.

He had shown his hand early on. How he cared for Amity was the best thing anyone could have on him and this woman did.

"She deserves this kind of place too. Nice, with a real house and shit. Neighbors that aren't tryin' to eat her." He muttered, frowning a bit to himself as he glanced towards the main windows, searching for a familiar shock of red hair.

"So you want to be here? For your family?" Deanna asked again.

"I guess."

* * *

Their first evening in Alexandria, Amity found herself sat on the couch with a book in her hand. Her brother sat on the floor leaning against the couch, broad shoulders resting gently against Amity's shins since she had her legs tucked up underneath her.

His hat was sat on the floor by his side so Amity was taking advantage of that fact and their rare cleanliness to run her fingers through his dark curls that had gotten longer than his usual liking.

The feel of the room was relaxed even with Daryl taking up a spot by the window and Bandit leaning on the wall near the door as he watched them all.

Amity had felt both of their eyes on her here and there but she ignored them as she found herself getting pulled into the book she had found.

The only thing that brought her out of her quiet headspace was Michonne's entrance, but she quickly returned to her reading after shooting the woman a quick smile.

It wasn't as if it was _her_ that Michonne had her eyes on anyways.

"You always been a brainiac then, Red?" Abraham asked from where he was perched on the arm of the couch.

Amity gave a soft hum of questioning, only half comprehending the man's inquiry as she slowly pulled her attention away from her book to look over at him.

When their eyes met, Abraham raised a brow and Amity had to recall what he had asked before chuckling.

"I don't think liking to read makes me a brainiac, Abraham." She teased, but he didn't seem put off.

"Having the word 'Doctor' in front of your name sure the hell does." He countered and she shrugged.

"There were plenty of PhDs back in the day. Nothing too special, but still, it was a hell of an accomplishment for me. Worked my ass off for it." Amity said.

Their surprisingly normal conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door and just like that, a flip had switched.

Amity shifted forward, abandoning her book just as her brother went to rise to his feet.

She saw Daryl moving away from the window and towards her and the couch, but when Rick opened the door and revealed their visitor to be Deanna, he paused and she relaxed back against the bare frame of the piece of furniture, every cushion but the one she was sat on being stripped and used by those on the floor.

"Oh, my." Deanna's exclamation had Amity raising a brow at the older woman as her eyes momentarily focused on her, obviously judging them for their decided arrangements.

"Staying together." She commented. "Smart."

"No one said we couldn't." Rick defended a bit hotly.

"You said you're a family. That's what you said." Deanna recounted with a smile. "Absolutely amazing to me how people with completely different backgrounds and nothing in common can become that. Don't you think?"

"Everybody said you gave them jobs," Rick told her, not lingering too much on the kumbaya shit.

"Yes, I have. It's part of this place. Looks like the communists won after all." She joked.

"Well, you didn't give me one." Rick pointed out.

"I have. I just haven't told you yet." Deanna revealed with a reassuring smile. "Same with Michonne. I'm closing in on something for Sasha- and I'm just trying to figure the youngest Mr. Dixon out, but I will."

Daryl didn't seem impressed or interested in her trying on his behalf. Amity knew from experience that if Deanna was wanting to figure Daryl out then she better have a hell of a lot of patience.

"You look good."

With that, Deanna took her leave and Rick instructed them all to settle in for the night.

Abandoning her book, Amity crossed the room to Daryl and took her place on the floor alongside him, ignoring the obvious space that he was trying to keep between them as she scooted playfully closer bit by bit.

Rolling his eyes at her, Daryl tossed an arm across his face and Amity took that as an invitation.

She tucked herself along his side, ignoring the fact that he smelt distinctly worse amongst their newfound clean environment, but she wasn't perturbed. She'd take Daryl whatever way he came.

She just hoped that he would give this place, this life, a shot.

* * *

The next morning Amity woke with only slightly sore shoulders and found Daryl already awake and crouched by the window next to her.

Most of their group was still in the processing of waking like she was, but Rick and Bandit were both on their feet and looking ready for the day.

"Early bird gets the worm, Bambi," Bandit said as he approached, tossing a water bottle towards her that she caught before narrowing her eyes at her friend and taking a swig from the bottle.

Before long, they were all trailing out of the house with Rick urging them on to explore the neighborhood.

Amity's hand was intertwined with Maggie's, but when she noticed Daryl sitting in the corner of the porch rather than following them along, she paused.

"I'll catch up." She told her friends who accepted her words without much fanfare.

"They said explore. Let's explore." Rick was telling Daryl as Amity stopped next to him.

"Nah, I'll stay," Daryl said, looking at the both of them before turning his eyes pointedly downwards.

Yesterday Amity hadn't pushed him, but today was a new day.

"Lori and me, we used to drive through neighborhoods like this. Thinking, 'One day.'" Rick told them, pulling Amity from her contemplation of Daryl to look at the former sheriff instead.

"Well, here we are," Daryl told him and Rick seemed to consider the implications of being where they were.

It used to be about money, now it was about something different entirely.

Reaching out to him, Amity gave his arm a gentle squeeze before passing him to head towards Daryl's side.

As she sat, Rick took his leave down the front steps after everyone else.

"You should go _explore_ or whatever," Daryl told her, his eyes on his dirty calloused hands rather than on her.

"I need someone to watch my back," Amity said simply, reaching out and gently grabbing one of his hands in hopes of getting his eyes to look at her instead.

"Got Maggie or Bandit." He muttered but she was already shaking her head.

"They're not you." She told him and finally, their eyes were meeting.

"That's a good thing in here," Daryl told her, letting the source of his unease be revealed. It was such a change from the guarded man she had met so long ago.

She knew that Daryl was still hardened and cautious, he loved with everything in him and he didn't make it easy to be loved in return, but he had come so far.

She was so proud of him.

So honored to be trusted by him, to be able to love him.

She did love him.

Amity knew that now. She loved Daryl Dixon with every ounce of her being and though she yearned to tell him as much, it wasn't the time.

Not when he was looking at a smudge of dirt he had left on her hand and frowning.

"You know, that wouldn't be an issue if you'd come take a shower like the rest of us." She told him, her tone light but his frown deepened.

Watching him for a moment as he avoided her gaze once more, Amity shifted to lay her head on his shoulder and resisted sighing as he stiffened.

"This place is kind of stifling, huh? After so long out there." She commented, looking at the wall of the house that was across from where they sat.

Around them, amongst the neighborhood, she could hear the sound of children. She heard laughter and talking and non-panicked running feet.

It was so surreal.

"Woulda been before too," Daryl told her and she took a moment to consider that.

Now that he pointed it out, she realized that Daryl was dealing with more than discomfort brought on by a new world of tragedy and minimalism.

That had always been his world.

While she was used to these kinds of places and dealt with a different kind of clashing surrealism in her own head, and while Rick dealt with his old dreams coming true in a twisted way, Daryl was dealing with never fitting or even imagining doing so.

"I think places like this always were, yeah. Nosy neighbors and the HOA bitching about your choice of lawn ornament. People thinking it was all they ever wanted and then... it didn't live up to the hype." She lamented.

"Better than not having shit for shit." He grumbled and Amity nodded, conceding to his point.

"Everyone had their struggles. Some more than others, some just... different." She said, turning her head slightly so that she could press a kiss to his shoulder before closing her eyes.

She took in the slight breeze and the sounds of the community around her.

"I want this to work, Daryl," Amity admitted, her voice soft.

Next to her, Daryl felt his chest tighten at her words.

He had told Deanna that he wanted to be there for his family.

"It'll work, girl." He promised her.

* * *

The next day was less of a flexible schedule for Amity.

She knew thanks to Aaron who had stopped by that morning that those of them who were assigned jobs were expected to check in and see what they needed to do.

That meant Amity was having to make her way over to the building that was used as a clinic of sorts and meeting with the doctor.

She took a bit more time getting ready that morning and paired her black jeans with another tank top- grey this time and covered her still slightly red shoulders with a dark grey blazer that she had been given by Olivia, the apparent inventory extrordinaire of Alexandria. She twisted her wild locks into the best updo that she could manage and traded her usual heavy-duty boots for a pair of pink ballet flats.

Glancing in the mirror, Amity forced herself to take a deep breath.

She felt like she was playing a dress up game and pretending to be Dr. Amity Walker, Ph.D., head clinical psychologist, and owner of Walker Psychological Services. She wasn't her any more- the gruesome scar marring her cheek and pulling one corner of her mouth up ever-so-slightly was a testiment to that.

Turning away, Amity made her way swiftly downstairs.

She stepped out of the front door just in time to see Carol descending the porch steps, looking demure and non-threatening in her housewife outfit. If she didn't know she looked so ridiculous herself, Amity would have laughed.

"I'm gonna hose you down in your sleep." Carol was saying over her shoulder to Daryl who was perched on the front porch railing, Merle leaning on it next to him.

"You look ridiculous." Daryl called after her, apparently not willing to let her have the last word.

"Don't we all?" Amity asked, watching as both Dixons turned to her before their brows were raising towards their hairlines.

"Damn, Princess. Don't you look professional as hell." Merle drawled out, not being shy about looking her up and down until Daryl roughly shoved him.

"What, baby brother? I just never bought the fact she used to be a shrink, but now... now I get it." Merle said and Amity rolled her eyes, crossing the porch to Daryl and stretching up so that they were almost eye-to-eye.

"I'll help Carol hose you down, Dixon." She threatened.

"Where are ya going?" Daryl asked in return, apparently not bothered by her threat.

"To the clinic, or the infirmary, medical building- whatever you want to call it. I've got to meet the town's doctor since we'll be working together. He's supposed to get me caught up on the community's general situation." Amity explained, one hand resting on the front of Daryl's vest as she gently tugged on it, straightening it on his shoulders.

"Another damn doctor," Merle grumbled, the man obviously remembering Amity's friend, Caleb though not as fondly as she was.

"Rick says he's married to that Jessie woman who cut his hair. They have two boys, one that's Carl's age." Amity told them, knowing that the Dixons most likely didn't bother to attempt to know the happenings of the place themselves.

"I'll walk ya." Daryl told her and Amity took a step back so that he could climb down off of the railing.

"Oh, sure, Darylina. Run off with your woman. Shoot, I got me some shit to do anyhow." Merle drawled and Daryl simply rolled his eyes at him before Amity led their way off the porch.

* * *

Supply runs.

Bandit had spent the entirety of his life dedicated to service and it seemed that was going to continue in Alexandria.

"Better than being stuck inside the walls, man." Glenn was telling him as they walked, sensing the Marine's ire.

The job felt different than he would have thought. He liked the idea of being out there, of helping their community, but he wasn't sure how he felt about working with the people of Alexandria.

He had spent the day before with Michael and Carol, the three of them walking the community and looking at potential weak points and Bandit definitely saw some.

Civilians- _everywhere_.

That was the best way to put it.

Unlike the group he had been rolling with since Amity united him with them, these people were just like civilians from before things went to shit.

It wasn't innately a bad thing, but it didn't mean that he wanted to hand them a weapon and expect them to cover his ass.

"Glenn, Tara, Noah, and... Bandit?" A young guy asked as he stepped out onto the sidewalk from the house that they were heading to report to.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aiden. You met Nicholas pulling gate duty." He introduced and Nicholas greeted them as well.

"You're Deanna's son?" Glenn asked.

"That's right." Aiden nodded. "I hear you got experience making supply runs."

Bandit bit his tongue.

Yeah, they had some experience alright.

"I saw your pantry. You guys seem to do pretty well." Glenn said, apparently trying to make nice.

Glenn was good for that. There was a reason Bandit stood back and let him do the talking.

"Yeah, well, had some training before this. ROTC. Was nearing lieutenant when this shit blew in." Aiden explained and Bandit couldn't stop his snort of amusement then, pulling both of the young guys' eyes to him.

"Bandit was a Marine." Tara supplied helpfully.

"Am a Marine, Tare. You never stop being a Marine." Bandit said, his eyes never straying from the new pair in front of them.

The two had glanced at one another and Bandit waited for them to make some comment but it never came as Noah stepped in.

"My dad did ROTC." He told them, trying to diffuse any tension.

Bandit knew he wasn't making it easy, but he wasn't planning on dying anytime soon and these kids had the potential of fucking up those plans.

"He didn't make it?" Aiden asked.

"Nah," Noah confirmed.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry a lot these days." Aiden told him, actually sounding genuine which garnered him a point in Bandit's books. "Come on, I'll show you the ropes."

"We're doing a run today?" Tara asked, none of them moving even as Aiden and Nicholas did.

"Just a dry run. Show you the terrain outside the walls, see how you do." Aiden explained, smirking a bit. "Weigh each other's sack a little, you know?"

"No, I don't, but cool," Tara replied drily, her smile at the end making Bandit smirk himself.

"Weapons?" Bandit asked simply.

He wasn't about to go out with his people and two strangers with nothing but his good intentions.

"Oh, yeah. We pulled out some sweet-ass biscuits for today." Aiden told them, gesturing for Nicholas to hand over their weapons.

As a handgun was pulled out, Bandit crossed his arms over his chest and simply looked at the younger guy.

"I want a real gun. _My_ gun." He said simply, tilting his head as he stared the kid down.

"These are the ones we checked out for the run. It's just a dry run, man." Aiden said, his self-assured smile serving to piss Bandit off.

"That shit don't matter, kid. Plans are useless, but _planning_ is indispensable." He told him sharply before looking over at Glenn.

"You remember where the armory is? We're going." Bandit told him, moving to head back to where he remembered the building to be.

"Hey, listen, man. I get it. You were military or whatever, but you're still the new guys in here. We've been doing this shit and I'm calling the shots." Aiden called after him.

Bandit didn't plan on stopping but the words incensed him and he rounded quickly, heading towards the pair only to be stopped by Glenn stepping between them.

"You want us to do it your way, guy? _Fine_. I've been prepared to bite it for years, but the only shots you're going to be calling for me is 21 of them at my end." Bandit growled.

* * *

"Has Deanna given you a job yet?" Amity asked Daryl as they walked, ignoring the eyes that followed them on their stroll to the clinic.

It seemed that though the people of Alexandria were slowly getting used to the group, they still weren't used to the sight of Daryl.

Amity supposed she could understand why. Hell, even Merle had washed and traded his clothes out for cleaner ones by that point but Daryl was still wearing his like armor.

"Nah, I don't think she's gonna either," Daryl said with a shrug.

"Why do you think that? You're not the only one missing a job, Dare. Rick and Michonne are too. It's because she knows y'all are special- the best of the best. You need to be placed accordingly." Amity reasoned and she smiled softly when she noticed a bit of color in his cheeks before he turned his face away from her.

"Whatever," Daryl muttered and Amity's smile grew slightly.

"Whatever whatever," Amity replied, playfully mimicking his grumble in a way that had him glaring over at her.

They were quiet as they walked the rest of the way, both of them in their own thoughts as they looked at the community around them.

It was only once they arrived at the clinic that Amity turned to Daryl again.

"Thanks for walking me, oh big strong protector man." She teased, proud of the way the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.

"Go on, girl. I'll wait for you out here." He said, gesturing to the door before he began to lean his crossbow against the steps.

Once he caught her look of confusion, he shrugged.

"You were saying ya wanted to explore. Figured we could explore when ya get done." He told her and like a switch had been flipped, her expression went from confused to beaming.

Under the brightness of her smile, Daryl shifted but smiled a bit himself.

He liked making her happy- liked seeing her blue eyes brighten when she grinned at him like he had just offered her a million dollars when all he did was suggest them taking a walk.

"It shouldn't take too long!" Amity chirped, nearly bouncing over to him so that she could press a kiss to his scratchy cheek before heading towards the front door and disappearing inside.

Daryl watched until the door closed before he took a seat on the steps and waited, quietly listening for any sounds of distress from where his woman had just disappeared.

Inside the clinic, Amity cautiously walked forward further into the empty room.

Under her blazer, a knife still rested at her waist. She may have been trying in this new place, but she wasn't stupid enough to walk around unarmed.

Now, her hand stayed close to where it hung.

"Hello?" She called out softly and after a moment, a man appeared through one of the doors.

"Amity?" He asked and she forced herself to relax a bit, reaching out a hand towards him.

"That's me. Nice to meet you! Pete, I'm assuming?" She greeted, smiling as the man shook her hand.

Looking at him closer now, Amity didn't let her smile falter but something about him seemed... off. Unfocused even. Like he had been drinking or was hit on the head too hard.

"The one and only." He replied, returning her smile.

"So you were a surgeon before all of this?" Amity asked.

"Still am, just like you're still a psychologist. I can see you trying to get a read on me as we speak." Pete replied good-naturedly and Amity offered a sheepish but tight smile.

"Ah, it's just one of those things, you know? Can't really turn it off." She excused.

"So, what's the verdict?" Pete asked and Amity paused, a bit thrown by the forwardness of the question.

"I- uh, well, you seem like a good guy. Confident... and from what I've heard, a great doctor." She said, quickly offering compliments and making up for her hesitation that could have thrown a wrench in their new work partnership.

"Well, I appreciate that. Appreciate you coming by today too." Pete continued and Amity let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Something about the man put her on edge even if she couldn't put her finger on what.

She had to be being paranoid, though she tended to read people fairly well.

This place had her on edge.

She had gotten unused to friendly people while out there- that was all.

"Of course. I'm here to help in whatever way I can." She told him.

"Glad to hear it. Since your group is the newest in, there's not much for you to do in terms of evaluations yet, but there's plenty of medical books in here for you to use, so you can stop by whenever you want. I'm also going to start telling the people in the community that you're open for sessions if they feel they need them. That all sound good to you?" Pete asked as he caught her up on what would be her new work schedule.

Though the idea of sitting down as she used to and constructing plans about how to help people deal with the trauma of the new world, a trauma that she wasn't sure she had been handling well herself, made her uncomfortable, she wasn't lying when she said she was willing to help in whatever way she could.

"Works for me." Amity agreed.

"Oh, Deanna also mentioned something about a medical anomaly that I needed to check over," Pete said and Amity felt herself freezing up a bit.

"Oh, uh, right. It's just..." She began but trailed off as she began to feel distinctly uneasy under his gaze.

Pete was intense in all of the wrong ways for her nerves.

"It's just the scar... on my face. It twinges a bit now and then and I feel like I can barely talk." She blurted out finally, the lie falling smoothly from her lips since there was some truth in it.

Her face did hurt sometimes, the pain radiating from her scar. She figured it was just nerve damage and it didn't bother her so much that she was concerned over it.

Something in her gut just told her to not tell this man about her bite.

The quick check up went fast after that and though Pete had offered her some pain medication to take when her face became too painful to bear, Amity turned it down.

Stepping out of the office, Amity let out a heavy breath and found Daryl watching her closely.

"Let's take that walk, Chief." She suggested, moving quickly to his side.

* * *

"We've been increasing our radius mile by mile, spreading in a semicircle around the town," Aiden said as the group walked through the woods.

Bandit walked near the back of the group, his eyes constantly scanning the area around them.

He walked nearly silent, but Aiden and Nicholas tromped along like a herd of elephants so his whisper-quiet gait made no difference.

"We've made it 53 miles out so far," Nicholas added.

"We break into two groups when we step outside our vehicle," Aiden explained as they continued moving. "If shit hits, we fire a flare. One group gets the other."

"Good system," Noah said, and Bandit had to say that the kid didn't sound too convinced of his own words but Aiden didn't seem perturbed.

"It is. Still, you're standing here because we lost four people last month." Aiden told them.

"Comforting." Bandit stated.

"What happened?" Glenn asked, pointedly talking over Bandit.

"We were on a run, roamers came out, they didn't follow the system," Aiden said.

"They were good people," Nicholas added.

"They were. They were just scared." Aiden said before raising his voice a bit and continuing, "Look, I can be a hard-ass. And I know I'm a douchebag. SBut someone's got to call the ball around here and that someone is me."

The young man stopped then, turning to face them all.

Bandit stood a step behind Glenn, sharp eyes sizing up the two once more.

"If you're on this crew, you do exactly as I say," Aiden told them and Bandit didn't miss the look his people exchanged at that.

They were supposed to play nice. Go team and all that shit.

Thus far, Tara, Noah, and Glenn had been doing a hell of a lot better job at that than he had so he pressed his lips together and kept his mouth shut at that moment even though a thousand derisive comments lingered on the tip of his tongue.

"Sorry you lost your people," Tara told them sincerely.

"Yeah, but we got ours," Aiden said before sharing a smile with Nicholas.

"Managed to snag one of the deadheads that took them down," Nicholas explained, pointing as they rounded a bend. "Strung it up there."

"What?" Bandit growled out.

"Why?" Glenn followed up, sounding more confused than anything else.

"Now we have a little pregame ritual. Get our heads on straight." Nicholas explained.

"Remind us what we're up against," Aiden added.

" _Pregame ritual_." Bandit scoffed, spotting the bloody chain hanging from a tree. "This shit isn't a damn game!"

"Son of a bitch!" Aiden exclaimed a moment later, his words and the situation confirming Bandit's point.

"Help me find it." He requested.

"Look at this shit." Nicholas said, his voice full of disgust. "Blood's still wet. It's nearby."

Bandit watched as Aiden went for the chain.

He didn't know if the young guns were deluded as well as stupid, but he wasn't about to waste the precious time he had left on Earth looking for one walker that they shouldn't have had tied up like a morbid pinata anyways.

A sharp whistle cut through the quiet forest and Bandit turned, gun already raising as Glenn rushed over to quiet Nicholas who had been the source of the noise.

"Hey, hey. It's gone." Glenn told them hotly.

"It took down one of our friends. It's nearby, we're not letting it go." Aiden argued.

"It's not like it did it out of spite, you pair of fucknuts. It's a damn _walker_." Bandit snapped.

Nicholas whistled again, clapping his hands loudly and making Bandit really reconsider the promise he had made himself about not losing his cool and shooting the guys.

A snarl sounded from nearby Aiden and Bandit turned, ready to blow the walker away but then Nicholas started calling to it like it was a damn puppy or something.

Noah raised his gun as well, ready to defend the Alexandrians but Nicholas waved him off.

"No, don't touch it." He snapped.

"The rest of you, back off!" Aiden shouted.

As the walker went for Nicholas, Aiden grabbed its arms and attempted to loop the chain he had undone from the tree onto its wrists.

Because that worked so well for them the first time.

Bandit inched forward as the rotting skin of the walker slipped under the younger man's hands and Tara moved closer.

He could see the woman eyeing the situation and knew that she wasn't likely to leave the idiotic pair to their own devices if things went south.

"Damn it!" Aiden cursed as the walker turned on him and he shoved it hard, causing it to stumble back from his push and fall into Tara who had been moving to help him.

"No, hold on to it!" He ordered as the walker ripped itself from Tara's hands, leaving its skin behind before turning on her.

Without hesitation, Bandit stepped forward and pulled the thing back from the woman just as Glenn took aim and drove his blade through its skull.

Without much fanfare, Bandit let the now completely lifeless corpse fall to the forest floor with a heavy thud.

"What the hell?!" Aiden snapped.

"Yeah, what the hell?" Tara gasped out at Aiden in response.

"You almost got her killed!" Glenn shouted, rounding on the man.

Bandit was glad to see that he wasn't the only one that would be losing his cool now.

"I told you all to stay back!" Aiden yelled. "I told you to listen to every damn thing I said! I told you that."

There was no doubt in Bandit's mind at that moment why four of their people had gotten killed.

Now he just wasn't looking for their names to be added to that list.

When Glenn turned to leave without another word, it took a lot of inward reflection to get Bandit to do the same. His jaw jumped under the tension of him gritting his teeth together, forcing himself not to turn on the men he heard trailing along behind them.

"You four need new gigs," Aiden called after them once they had entered through the gate and back into Alexandria. "You're not ready for runs yet."

"Yeah, pretty sure you got that backwards." Glenn countered.

"Hey. Hey." Aiden called after them when none of them were showing a willingness to stop and talk.

He grabbed Glenn's arm, pulling the man to a halt before getting in his face a bit.

"Look, we got a way of doing things around here." He told him and Bandit scoffed loudly.

"You tied up walkers, kid. That's not a way of doing shit, that's just sadism." Bandit called over to him.

"It killed our friend!" Aiden shouted in retaliation before looking at Glenn once more.

" _Look_ , I'm not having this conversation. You obey my orders out there." He told them, but Glenn wasn't backing down.

By this point, Amity and Daryl had happened upon the scene.

They had just been walking, Amity explaining what her new role was in the community when they heard raised voice.

Now, she followed along as Daryl quietly stalked over to them. Instead of focusing on the guy in Glenn's face, she set her sights on his friend, Nicholas from the gate, who was moving towards the two men as well.

"Then we're just as screwed as your last run crew," Glenn said harshly, causing the guy to get more in his face and Nicholas to shift forward.

"Say that again." The man growled.

"No, back off, Aiden," Tara suggested.

Amity was considering ways to defuse the situation when Deanna approached with Maggie rushing along behind her.

"Aiden! What is going on?" She called.

"This guy's got a problem with the way we do things," Aiden told his mother, turning to face her now.

"Why did you let these people in?" He asked her, but it was Glenn that answered.

"Because we actually know what we're doing out there." Her friend growled and Aiden turned fast, throwing a punch that Glenn easily dodged before returning the blow, hitting home on the man's nose.

"Aiden, no! That's enough!" Deanna yelled, but Nicholas had rushed forward only to be met with the brick wall that was Daryl before Amity could even twitch.

"I said that is enough!" Deanna yelled again.

Bandit had joined the fray now, easily wrapping thick arms around Aiden and tossing him to the side, discouraging him from trying to go for Glenn again.

"Whoa, whoa!" Rick called as he entered through the gate and saw Daryl on top of a random guy, his people in the middle of a brawl. "Hey, hey, hey!"

Amity heard the sound of shoes scraping against asphalt and turned to see that Aiden was up again, looking as if he wanted to rejoin the fight, and she stepped in front of him.

"I'd rethink that unless you want to be walking funny for a few days." She said sharply, her threat furthered by the appearance of Michonne next to her.

That was the way her family worked. No one stood alone- they didn't have to.

She glanced over to see that Rick had gotten Daryl off of Nicholas and had herded him back a few feet.

The hunter stalked back and forth, Rick mirroring his movements, and it was obvious that he was itching to lay the guy out again.

"I want everyone to hear me, okay?" Deanna called out, her tone demanding attention. "Rick and his people are part of this community now in all ways as equals. Understood?"

She looked to Aiden then and the man shrugged his shoulders, a smile on his face that was too smug for a guy who had just been laid out.

"Understood." He confirmed.

"All of you, turn in your weapons." Deanna continued before gesturing at Aiden and his friend. "Then you two come talk to me."

Amity's family exchanged looks as the tension of the situation seemed to ease a bit and the other two men turned to walk away. Aiden walked backwards a few steps, the action still holding such confidence that it was hard for Amity not to scoff as she held his gaze in a bit of a challenge.

When he finally turned after his friend handed him a gun, Amity looked to Deanna who had now focused on Rick.

"I told you I had a job for you. I'd like you to be our constable. That's what you were. That's what you _are_." She said, apparently shocking Rick before she looked at Michonne.

"And you, too." She added, then looked between them. "Will you accept?"

"Okay." Rick agreed after a brief moment of silence then looked imploringly at Michonne.

"Yeah, I'm in." Michonne agreed as well.

At that, a harsh scoff left Daryl and pulled most of their attention to him as he moved to roughly scoop up his crossbow.

He shot a look of disbelief towards Rick as he stalked away back towards their house.

Sighing, Amity reached out and patted Rick's arm before heading off after the obviously disgruntled hunter.

Rounding a corner, Amity found that her lack of navigational skills had gotten the best of her and now she was outside of the pantry and armory rather than on the street that her family's house was.

Since she was there, Amity decided to give Daryl a bit of time to cool off and instead see if there was anything in the pantry that she could use to make everyone some dinner after the hard day they had.

She was thinking some good ole fashioned southern food- or the best she could do given the circumstances.

Climbing the steps, she reasoned that she might just have to peruse the ingredients and leave dinner that night up to Carol. If she found the right stuff then she could ask Daryl to take her hunting for the meat she may need.

She remembered her and Michael bragging about the stuffed dove that their dad used to make and figured that would be a nice treat for everyone.

Her hand had just touched the doorknob when it turned and out stepped the two men from earlier who had tried to throw down with her family.

Immediately, Amity felt her expression sour even if she hadn't meant for it too.

"Sorry, didn't mean to almost run you over," Aiden said, looking down at her with a smile that only faded slightly as he realized who she was.

"Oh, you're the girl who was going to make me walk funny." He commented as if it was a joke, Nicholas even chuckling behind him.

"The offer still stands," Amity said simply.

"I have no doubts that it does." He replied, smiling before he held a hand out towards her that she regarded with disinterest.

"I'm Aiden." He introduced.

"Yeah, Deanna's son. Could you move?" She asked, obviously not wanting any more interaction with the man.

"I could." He said, again trying his hand at a joke that only had his friend chuckling in encouragement.

Voices from nearby had Amity glancing over her shoulder to spot the rest of the group from the gate approaching, obviously coming to turn in their weapons like Nicholas and Aiden had been.

Upon spotting Amity stood in front of the two men that they had just had an altercation with, Bandit picked up his pace and Rick was right at his heels.

"My mom's talking about having a party to welcome your group," Aiden said, speaking a bit faster now that her people were approaching. "I'll see you there."

With that, he went to move out of her way, stepping around her and offering a mocking salute towards Bandit as the man approached the steps with a hard look on his face.

They all were quiet as they watched the two men depart but then Bandit was leaning down to look her in the eyes.

"You good, Bambi?" He asked and she nodded.

"I'm fine. He was just being a cocksure prat." She said, shrugging her shoulders before moving down the steps.

She wasn't in the mood to look through the pantry now. She just wanted to find Daryl.

"You sure?" Bandit asked, a hand reaching out to stop her so she grabbed it, giving it a gentle squeeze and him a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure. I'll see you at the house." She excused and headed off down the street, being careful this time to not get turned around.

"You look like a secretary!" Bandit called after her, apparently having noticed her outfit, but Amity just held up a particular finger for him to see rather than turning and gracing him with the sound of her voice.

Once home, Amity walked around to the back of the house and found Daryl sitting against it just like she had thought he would be.

"Michael's back from meetin' with the construction guys. He was looking for you." Daryl told her but she continued her way over to him and sat heavily down on the ground next to him.

The couple sat in silence for a long while, Amity looking up at the sky over the treetops beyond the wall while Daryl focused on the grass he was fiddling with.

After a while, they had heard everyone return to the house and only sat a bit longer before she was standing and offering a hand down to him.

"Shower time." She told him sternly and Daryl withdrew his hand that he was about to place in hers.

"So you _don't_ want to shower with me?" She asked for clarification, raising a brow pointedly with her question and watched the refusal on his face turn into something more torn before he was sighing and taking her hand.

"That's what I thought." She teased, reaching up to drape her hand around the back of his neck since they were alone. She tugged his face down towards hers, capturing his lips in a searing kiss.

The pair took solace in one another for a long while with playful nips, light swipes of tongues, and eventually, Daryl had her in his arms, her legs around his waist as he pressed her back against the side of the house.

Her hands ventured over his shoulders, sliding down his chest rather than his back as Amity enjoyed the hard planes of his muscles while he supported her weight.

Daryl let out a soft groan at her touch, but the next moment Amity was pulling back from their kiss.

"Shower." She insisted and the groan that left Daryl was more frustrated this time.

With a laugh, Amity climbed down from the man and pulled him along to the front of the house.

When they came up the steps, Rick was coming out the door.

His eyes bounced between them, a small smirk appearing on his lips at the sight of Daryl's ruffled hair and Amity's slightly swollen lips before they settled on Daryl.

"We good?" Rick asked his best friend and Daryl nodded, not bothering to unlace his fingers from Amity's.

"Yeah." He confirmed before they both got a good look at what Rick was wearing.

"You a cop again?" Daryl asked, voicing Amity's own thoughts as Carol came out on the porch to join them.

It had been a long time since she saw him dressed like the officer he used to be.

She now understood why the Dixons had found her own outfit so surprising that morning. It was like looking at the ghost of who someone used to be.

"I'm trying it on for size," Rick said.

"So we're staying?" Carol asked and Rick took a moment to consider the question.

Amity knew what her eyes would hold if he looked at her.

She wanted this place to work. She wanted it to work for Carl and Judith, but also for Maggie and Glenn who deserved to have a normal young life of love and family. For Abraham, Merle, and Bandit, who needed to know a life of something other than just war. For Rick, Sasha, Carol, Michael, Gabriel, Eugene, Tara, Michonne, Rosita, and Noah- who just deserved _more_.

Selfishly, she also wanted it for herself and Daryl. She wanted a real life with him.

"I think we can start sleeping in our own homes. Settle in." Rick said finally, making Amity smile.

"If we get comfortable here, we let our guard down- this place is gonna make us weak," Carol argued and Amity shook her head.

"Carl said that. But it's not gonna happen." Rick told her.

"We can't be weak, not anymore. We're all... we're just not who we once were. This place won't change that. Nothing can." Amity interjected.

"We'll make it work." Rick agreed. "And if they can't make it then we'll just take this place."


	51. Author's Note

First off, I want to say sorry that this is not a chapter and I'm _sorry_. I always hate when authors do this, but it had to be done so I didn't leave y'all in the dark any longer.

I want to say so very sorry for my absence as of late! Various things have added up (my husband being away with the Army for a while, starting a doc program, lack of muse bc this is where TWD began to lose me a bit if I'm honest) and it left me struggling with finding the motivation to write.

That being said, I love to write and I love this story and character. It's honestly been such an outlet for me in the past so I'm going to TRY HARDER.

I want to thank everyone who left reviews on this story. They are honestly what inspired me to come back and give it another go. I want to thank DudettRin101 in particular for their lovely words and thoughtful opinions/insight! Also, Allison586, I'm so glad you love my big bby Bandit lol

SO, this story WILL be continuing!

The updates may be slower than they were in the past, but they will come!

As for the plot, I have some ideas where to take it, but I would love your opinions on what parts of the rest of the canon storyline you would love to see or don't particularly like. Those opinions won't be a final call for me, but will definitely be taken into account!

Now, I am off to refresh my memory about where our babies were last and then watch through some of the show for further inspo!

Expect an update in the near future!

Thank for your amazing support

xx


	52. Chapter 51

With the morning sun, Amity rose.

It was definitely not something that she enjoyed doing, but so much time spent on the road had given her a sleep schedule that coincided with the sun. Her main hope with Alexandria was that that would change.

Okay, maybe not her _main_ hope, but it was definitely up there.

Amity was not the least bit surprised when she woke up to a half-empty bed, a bed that she now was supposed to share with Daryl. Her pale fingers ghosted over the sheets and she was no more surprised when she found that they were cool to the touch.

Alexandria wasn't having the best effect on Daryl.

While it seemed to soothe a majority of their group, it put nearly as many of them on edge. Daryl being the worst.

She wondered if he had even slept more than an hour with her last night.

It was doubtful.

Stretching before climbing out of bed, the woman made quick work of getting dressed and heading down the stairs.

As she came down, she spotted Carol in the kitchen and her brother about to walk out the front door.

"Will you ever sleep in, Michael Boone?" She called out, causing the man to look over his shoulder with a smile.

"Not in this lifetime, Bug." He replied simply, then called out goodbyes and declarations of love to both of the women now downstairs before he left with the door shutting behind him.

"At least I got some breakfast in him this morning," Carol told Amity as the redhead entered the kitchen, digging through the pantry and pulling out a granola bar that she was certain would be stale.

"You're a saint," Amity replied before turning and hopping up to sit on one of the countertops.

"Got a busy day of playing housewife?" She asked Carol who scoffed lightly.

"Something like that. Daryl and Rick are supposed to take me shooting later." Carol said as she scrubbed a dish in the sink. "I really need the practice, you know?"

Now it was Amity's turn to scoff.

"Oh, I'm sure you do." She drawled out, her sarcastic tone being well paired with her eye roll.

"What are your plans for the day?" Carol asked in return.

Amity fell silent for a moment, munching on the stale granola as she considered the question.

She knew what she was _supposed_ to do that day. What she should do.

She really needed to tell Pete about her bite. She needed to get the check-up that she had promised to get done completed before word got around the community about her immunity.

On the other hand, she already wanted to avoid the clinic.

She knew that it wouldn't be long before members of Alexandria started popping in to spill their burdens to a supposedly compassionate and trained listening ear.

Amity was indeed trained and she liked to think that she was compassionate, but she wasn't sure how much help she'd be to anyone anymore.

She didn't think that she was handling things any better than the rest. Therefore, giving out advice and interventions felt hypocritical at best.

"Maybe I'll tag along with y'all. I need out of these walls." Amity finally answered.

Now it was Carol who stayed silent for a beat too long.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the clinic today? We don't need to draw any more attention to us, Amity. After what happened between Glenn and Deanna's son..." The older woman trailed off and Amity bit back a sigh.

Carol had a point.

That didn't mean Amity liked it.

"You're right. I need to get myself settled in there before I really get into the thick of it." She conceded and Carol nodded, humming softly to herself.

Finishing off the granola bar, Amity hopped off the counter and called a good-bye to Carol as she headed out the front door.

Alexandria was tranquil under the morning sun, but everyone's front porches were too full for her liking.

As she walked, she felt the eyes of the neighbors follow her.

She plastered a friendly smile on her lips and waved at anyone whose eyes met her's. If they were going to stare then she would at least embrace the opportunity to build bridges rather than burn them.

Too soon, she was walking up the clinic's steps.

"Knock, knock." She called out as she entered the building, casting blue eyes around the place to find that the main room was empty.

"Okay..." Amity said softly to herself before shrugging slender shoulders.

She was told to make herself at home, so that's what she'd do.

Heading towards a room that looked like it functioned as an office, Amity pushed open the door and smiled softly when she noticed that there were two desks in the space, one empty and waiting to be used. Assumedly, by her.

She ran fingertips lightly over the wood of it before sparing a glance towards Pete's desk, pausing when she spotted that one of his drawers were open. Something in the drawer caught the sunlight from the window and after she made her way towards it, Amity's brows shot towards her hairline upon finding the drawer full of empty or half-empty liquor bottles.

Leaning down to grab one, her nose was assaulted by the once familiar smell of booze.

"Jesus Christ," she muttered as she lifted a mostly empty bottle of Jack.

No wonder Pete had given off a vibe. She would bet her bow that he was at least tipsy when she had met him.

She couldn't imagine letting the man touch one of her injured friends.

Staring at the bottle in her hands, Amity pressed her lips tightly together as she considered the situation more carefully.

Perhaps, she was jumping the gun.

After all, the bottles could be used for sterilization purposes, though Amity's gut argued against her logical reasoning.

Carefully, she set the bottle back in the drawer and slid it closed, crossing the room back towards the empty desk just as the front door in the main room opened.

Heavy footsteps entered the building and Amity moved towards the sound, leaning to look out into the main room and forcing a smile onto her lips as she spotted Pete.

"Hey, Pete! I was just looking over my desk. Thanks for clearing it for me if you did!" She chirped and was relieved when her extra sunny attitude seemed to placate the man who looked distinctly thrown off when he had first spotted her in the office.

"No problem. I wanted to make sure you had space to work." He said, his voice kind but his tone brisk before he nodded back towards the rooms that Amity had assumed were used for patient intake.

"Deanna set aside this room for you to use for your sessions. She mentioned that a couple of people have already voiced wanting to come to see you." Pete explained and Amity felt her stomach twist, but she forced the feeling away.

She could do her job. She had to remind herself of that.

She would pull her weight in the community just like the rest of her family was.

"Oh, you talked to Deanna?" Amity asked, trying to sound casual with her question.

Pete nodded his head, his eyes seeming to scan Amity's face, fixating a moment on her scarred cheek.

"I did. She was glad that you had talked to me about your scar. She said you had mentioned the pain during your interview and that it worried her. She really wants to make sure that you're all comfortable here." Pete said, throwing Amity completely.

It seemed that Deanna had gone back on her original wish for Amity to talk to Pete about her bite.

She wondered if that meant Deanna was going to listen to Rick and Daryl, both of whom had originally been against the idea of all of Alexandria knowing about Amity's immunity, or if she had something else in mind.

Amity was honestly against it herself.

It was a scary thing, trusting so many strangers with something that so many had reacted so strongly to.

"Oh, that's kind of her," Amity said quickly before her hesitation went on for too long.

"We're not monsters here, Amity. The walls are to keep those out." Pete said, his tone nearly patronizing and she forced herself not to flinch away when he reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

People were supposed to be okay with casual contact. That was something that she had to remind herself too.

People who hadn't experienced what it was like out there were still okay with that kind of thing.

"I know that," Amity said softly, not willing to voice her real thoughts to the doctor.

"Well, I'm going to head out now. See about getting some of the things I'll need here for my office and such. Put a face to the person that people will be coming to see as well." She excused with a forced grin, trying not to rush towards the door as she made her escape from the clinic and Pete.

She needed to talk to Deanna, or maybe Rick and Daryl.

She needed to calm the hell down, first off.

Amity was freaking out as if a walker was on her ass and it was ridiculous in her opinion.

These were just people, for fuck's sake.

 _Soft_ people. Squishy and ignorant to the world outside their walls.

But then again, that was what made them so dangerous.

They weren't people that you could trust to have your back if a horde broke through the gate.

Amity was unsure if they were people that she could trust in general.

She remembered how people were before the world went to the dead. People were power-hungry and conniving, but that was just the world.

She found herself sitting behind the house that she shared with Daryl, Merle, Carol, Michael, Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Judith. The grass was cool under her butt even through her jeans. She leaned her arms against her bent knees and sucked in a few deep breaths.

When the hell had she gotten so negative?

 _'Somewhere between Kipp and Beth,'_ her mind whispered.

Sure, people were bad and they had their faults, but she had loved working with them before. She closed her eyes and forced herself to remember the beauty of humanity.

The reasons why she had hope every day when she had unlocked her office's front door.

Slowly, images of her group started to appear instead of her reasons before the Outbreak.

Carl spinning Judith around in circles, the baby girl giggling as he did so.

Rick out in the garden at the prison, sweating as he laughed at her plucking weeds and complaining about a sore back.

Michonne and Michael spending hours with the horses they had caught outside the fences, her brother's patience and Michonne's determination paying off when the man was first able to mount one of them.

Carol laughing as she teased Daryl about something, the man's eyes hidden behind his hair as he muttered at her to stop.

Maggie and Glenn dancing together in the prison's cafeteria when they thought that no one was around to see them.

Her family was beautiful.

Alexandria could be full of beautiful people too.

* * *

When Amity finally went to find Deanna, she was surprised to discover Michonne and Rick with her and Maggie in her house.

Deanna had called for her to enter, to join the conversation that was apparently just beginning.

Without much fuss, Amity settled down into a chair next to Maggie.

"You protect and serve," Deanna said once she had, apparently answering a previous question with her focus now on Michonne and Rick. "You patrol, walk the wall, watch out for the kids. If there's a conflict, you solve it, and people will listen to you."

"Because we're wearing windbreakers?" Michonne asked, disbelieving, and Amity had to bite back a laugh.

"Because they believe in this." Deanna corrected. "Because I'm telling them to."

That was something that Amity bought as the real reason people would abide by the authority of the windbreaker.

Their leader told them too.

"A police officer used to live here, so we had these jackets and I wanted to make it official," Deanna explained. "So it's official."

It was that easy.

There was something disturbing about one person having that much say so, but Amity figured there needed to be a leader.

Without one, there was chaos.

Rick had always thankfully held that power, that finality of decisions, but they all always had a voice.

At least after he got over his whole, 'this isn't a democracy,' phase.

"There's gonna be a government here one day." Deanna was saying. "That's why I want Maggie working with me. There's gonna be a police force. That's why I want you two to start it. There's going to be more people. That's why I want Amity and Pete here to keep them healthy. I see a vibrant community here with industry, commerce, civilization. Real lives. It might be horses and mills, but- what?"

It seemed that Deanna had picked up on the bit of incredulity in the room in response to her small rant.

"Does that sound like pie in the sky?" She asked.

"No," Maggie replied first, her voice holding gentle conviction.

"No." Michonne agreed.

Deanna's eyes then turned to Amity, the redhead pausing as she tried to sort through whether she really believed all that Deanna had said to be possible.

She thought back to her family, to the beauty and strength that they held.

They were all here now.

"No," Amity said firmly.

Deanna nodded then looked at Rick.

"No." The leader, the now constable, confirmed.

A beat of silence passed between them all until Amity interrupted it, leaning forward to better look at Deanna.

"Why didn't you tell Pete about my bite? You knew that I didn't tell him about it like we had agreed." Amity said, causing the other three in the room to look at her with surprise and confusion while Deanna gave her a small smile.

"I realized that you went with your intuition about it and that it was your business to tell. We don't have the resources here yet to do anything even if we could utilize the fact that you seem to be immune and we don't have the know-how either. I don't think that there is any reason to cause a situation over it if we don't need to. Rick and Daryl were right from the start. You all were." Deanna explained her reasons and left Amity silent and considering for a moment.

She felt a warmth in her chest and realized that it was a mix of gratitude and relief.

"Thank you." She said softly and Deanna's smile grew.

Another silent beat passed, but then it was Rick who interrupted this time.

"Can we talk security?" He asked and with that, Amity took her leave.

Maggie would fill her in later about anything that she needed to lend a hand with.

She paused on Deanna's porch as she considered heading back to the clinic, but quickly made the decision to just go back to the house when she spotted a familiar pair of faces heading towards where she stood.

Amity could live happily ever after without talking to Nicholas or Aiden, who were now making a beeline towards her, as she stepped out of the path they would have been on to get to the house she was leaving behind her.

"Hey, Amity!" Aiden called out. "Amity!"

She kept walking until the man was stepping in front of her, not rudely or aggressively as much as just trying to get her to pause.

"Didn't you hear me calling you?" He asked and Amity simply looked at him.

"I'm not deaf." She stated in lieu of an answer.

Aiden seemed taken aback only for a moment before he was grinning down at her, looking amused.

"You're a fiery one, aren't you?" He asked and Amity didn't even deem that something to be answered, instead moving to step around him but he stopped her by moving as well, hands out and placating.

"Wait, wait. I didn't mean anything by it. I know... I know you guys saw a lot out there. Did a lot. I really came in peace." Aiden soothed.

Amity narrowed her eyes but didn't move to leave again.

If she wanted to, she had no doubt that she could put him on his ass and continue on her way, but it seemed like he had something he wanted to say so she'd let him.

"I just wanted to make sure you were coming tonight- to my mom's party. I know she's looking forward to hosting all of your group and... I thought it would be cool to talk without all the aggression, you know?" He explained himself.

Amity couldn't fault him for his words, at least not at face value.

He wasn't intruding on her space, he wasn't insulting her family, and he was being nice, diplomatic even.

For that, she rewarded him with a nod and reigned in her glare.

"I'm coming. Hopefully, I'll convince more of my group to come too." Amity said, thinking of her dirty, grouchy hunter.

"Your mom... she's got ideas for this place. Ideas and hope. I think they need to hear more of it." She explained, and watched something more genuine slip into place behind Aiden's eyes.

"She's amazing, right?" He said, obvious fondness in his tone towards his mother.

"She's something," Amity replied, not knowing for herself quite what that something was yet.

Now, Amity decided to really take her leave.

She side-stepped Aiden and this time he didn't try to stop her.

"I'll see you tonight!" He called after her as she walked away and Amity simply flicked a hand in a wave of acknowledgment.

* * *

"So you're actually coming?" Amity asked Daryl, eyes wide as she watched him move about their room.

"Said I was, didn't I?" He grumbled in response.

It was no surprise to her that the man wasn't thrilled about attending, but she was more than shocked that he had already seemed to have made up his mind to go.

"That's great, Dare!" She chirped, smiling over at him as he ducked his head under the weight of her excitement and expectation.

"'m not guaranteeing I'll stay or nothin'." He warned, but Amity wasn't perturbed.

"That's fine. If it sucks we'll just blow that popsicle stand and get wine drunk here." She reasoned, her words pulling a soft snort of amusement from the man so she considered that a win.

"Now, you go take a shower while I get ready then I'll meet you downstairs." She directed, shooing him out of the room to the hall bathroom so that she could take over their en-suite that contained only a bathtub instead of a shower.

She got ready fairly quickly, only using the mascara out of the products that had been provided for her when they moved in to darken her lashes. It was weird, using any makeup, and Amity had no interest in doing anything beyond just that.

She left her hair down, her ginger curls wild as usual and searched through the closet of clothes she had been given.

There were a couple of dresses and she gravitated towards a navy blue number. It had a skater skirt and a fitted bodice with a modified halter neckline composed of semi-sheer shoulder straps that gave the illusion of it crossing in the front.

It was something Amity would have worn to a friend's dinner party once upon a time.

It was the right mix of refined and casual, and more importantly, it would hide the ugly bite scar marring her shoulder.

Sliding it on, Amity was pleased that it fit nearly perfect and she slipped on a pair of tan ballet flats that she pulled from the closet as well.

As expected, she beat Daryl downstairs.

The shower had just turned off when she passed the hall bathroom, so she took to wandering about the living room as she waited for her man to join her.

A few moments later, she was jumping as a hand touched her waist.

"Dammit, Dixon!" She snapped, swatting the man's chest as she worked to slow her heartbeat back down to a reasonable speed.

"Gettin' sloppy," Daryl told her and thankfully the words were teasing rather than reprimanding.

Rolling her eyes, Amity took a step back from the man so that she could take him in.

He was clean, that was something that she could nearly sing about, and he had put on clean clothes to top it off.

She eyed the dark jeans he wore, humming out her appreciation when her eyes moved to his chest and took in the dark t-shirt that clung to his arms and broad shoulders. As usual, his vest was being worn over it.

"So handsome." She told him, loving how he shifted shyly under the compliment.

"Look like a fuckin' slob next to you." He muttered, his eyes not being able to leave her which had a warmth pooling low in her belly.

"Was that a compliment?" She asked, teasing him before leaning in to gently kiss his lips, his stubble scraping her face pleasantly as she did so.

"Thanks, Dixon. Now come on and get moving. You took forever to get ready and are making us late." Amity taunted, laughing as she ran towards the door, dodging his attempt to swat her rear for her teasing.

Arriving at the party, Amity found herself hesitating on the porch as much as Daryl was at her side.

"We don't haveta go in," Daryl said softly.

Looking over to him, Amity realized that the only reason Daryl was hesitating now was due to the lack of her usual enthusiasm.

Laughter and light chatter filtered through the door and front windows to reach the couple's ears, only being overpowered by Amity's slightly labored breaths.

There was that panic again.

She didn't understand it and it frustrated her to no end.

Well, _technically_ she understood it.

Anxiety, that is, being that it was something she had studied.

She could lay out the exact process in the central, sympathetic, and parasympathetic nervous systems, but facing it herself...

It was frustrating.

"Yes, we do." She replied simply, knowing that it was true.

She couldn't just run away and neither could he.

"Then we go in together. I got yer back." Daryl told her, causing a warmth to flood her chest that chased away a bit of the crushing anxiety.

She gave a shaky nod in return, tugging at the straps of her dress to make sure her bite was covered before reaching for the door that was pulled open seconds before her hand touched the metal of the doorknob.

"Y'all comin' in or ya just gonna keep standin' out here like a couple 'a pussies?" Merle asked, his broad figure taking up the entirety of the doorframe.

All at once, Amity's nerves were replaced with an annoyance that only Merle fucking Dixon could elict from her, and she rolled her eyes before pushing roughly past the eldest Dixon to enter Deanna's home for the second time that day.

All around were faces, some familiar and some not so much, and Amity reached back blindly until a calloused hand slid into her's, chasing away any of the fear that was beginning to ooze back into her.

"It's a regular ole shin-dig we got here." She muttered to Daryl, who either scoffed or laughed at her words- it was hard to discern.

"Amity!" Maggie's voice traveled across the living area, and once she spotted her best friend, Amity beelined towards her with Daryl in tow.

"Hey, guys!" Amity greeted, the bright smile on her face genuine as she returned Glenn's hug and nodded at Abraham.

She then focused her attention on Noah, noticing how uncomfortable he seemed.

She knew the feeling.

"Look, y'all! A clean Daryl!" Amity declared, tugging Daryl closer and her smile brightened when her words pulled a chuckle from Noah.

It was at the expense of Daryl, sure, but the hunter was just rolling his eyes at her.

He was more than used to her teasing, and he didn't mind it when it was just family hearing it.

Michael had come over just after Amity and Daryl had arrived, pausing to kiss his sister on the head before joining Abraham and Merle.

Bandit joined their small group a bit later, standing with Merle, Michael, and Abraham, recounting something about a construction meeting about beams that Amity had little interest in listening to.

The couple stood talking to their group for a while, more than aware of the fact they were somewhat boxing out the Alexandrians, but it didn't last for long.

"Amity! I want you to meet my wife!" A familiar male voice called over and Amity glanced back just as Daryl did to see who was calling out to her.

Pete.

"That's the doctor I'm working with," Amity told Daryl after nodding to Pete that she was coming.

"Come on." She urged, nearly pleading as she wasn't sure if Daryl would entertain meet and greets with her, but thankfully for her state of mind, he allowed himself to be tugged along.

"Amity, this is my wife, Jessie." Pete introduced once the two couples had met along the edges of the party.

"Jessie, the hair stylist," Amity said with a smile, reaching out to hug the woman like she would have long ago when meeting someone. "We've heard great things."

She noticed Pete's smile dropping slightly, but didn't dwell on it as she gestured to Daryl at her side.

"Pete, Jessie, this is my partner, Daryl." Amity introduced, trying to bite back a smile at the way Daryl gently shook Jessie's hand as if worried about breaking the woman.

With Pete, he was a bit more forward and this time, Amity definitely saw Pete's smile drop away.

He looked at Daryl like the man was something he found outside in the woods, something feral and to be feared- and while that may have been the case, and while that may have been the front that Daryl put on to keep people away, the fact that Pete seemed to assume as much of the man made her bristle.

"Daryl, you hunt, right? I heard someone say that you had brought in some meat with you when you all first got here." Jessie said once the men's hands had dropped back to their sides, obviously trying to keep the air light between them.

Daryl grunted a confirmation and Amity smiled, about to add something to embellish the story of Daryl's hunt and hunting capabilities, but Pete spoke first.

"He brought in an opossum from what I heard. Shot the roadkill right outside the gate."

How he said it didn't sound like a compliment.

Now, both Amity and Daryl were bristling.

"Daryl's an amazing hunter. We wouldn't have made it through the first winter without him, or any time after that. We would have died starving in the snow. Y'all will be thankful with him around to fill the freezers." Amity nearly snapped, her tone so carefully controlled that it was sharp and icy.

The look behind Jessie's eyes let her know that the woman was well aware of, and embarrassed by, her husband's candy-coated rudeness.

"I'm sure he's great. If you'll excuse us, Sam's running around again." Jessie said quickly, her hand closing on her husband's arm until the man yanked it roughly out of her grip, but excused himself along with her.

"Fuckin' jackass," Daryl mumbled and Amity couldn't help but agree, letting out a breath with a harsh woosh.

"Speakin' of jackasses." The hunter grumbled, his tone holding an edge that had Amity turning with interest only to see Aiden making his way towards them through the sea of people.

"He stopped me today to see if I was coming tonight," Amity informed Daryl, who didn't look one bit pleased by that tidbit of information.

"'Course he fuckin' was." Daryl grouched and Amity looked at him with confusion.

"He's interested in ya, girl. Ain't blind and I ain't yer only option anymore." He muttered, causing Amity's eyes to narrow at him.

"You listen to me, Dixon and you listen good, because I'm only going to say this once." Amity hissed, getting into Daryl's space in a way that might have seemed sweet and affectionate to anyone who happened to focus on them. "I chose you and you chose me. End of story. Alexandria does not change that. More people around does not change that. You're the only man I want until you don't want me anymore, got it?"

Daryl was looking at her with slightly widened eyes, whether out of fear or surprise, Amity wasn't sure, but a moment later his more bashful side made an appearance as he hid behind his hair.

"Ain't gonna want anyone but you neither." He mumbled, bringing a smile to Amity's lips.

"Glad to hear it, Chief. I was starting to like having you around." She teased, running a hand down his chest as if to smooth out his vest.

"Starting to, my ass," Daryl replied and Amity laughed before flinching away from a hand abruptly touching her shoulder.

She had forgotten about Aiden's approach.

"You made it," Aiden said slowly, looking down at the empty space his hand was now suspended, Daryl's hand still wrapped around his wrist from where he had forced the man's hand off of her.

The hunter stared the younger man down for a long moment before Amity reached out to gently brush his outstretched arm. Under her touch, he released Aiden's arm.

"I didn't mean to startle you." Aiden said, his eyes slowly leaving Daryl to fixate on Amity.

"Should just keep yer hands to yourself." Daryl grumbled, and Amity couldn't help but small softly, shaking her head a bit before addressing Aiden.

"It's alright." She reassured him before addressing what he had said first in greeting. "And I said that I was going to come. Your mom was kind enough to invite us all."

She then had to bite back a smirk as she gestured to the hunter at her side.

"Speaking of all, I'm assuming you remember Daryl, right?" She asked, turning to give the man in question a soft smile that she knew wouldn't be returned in their current company.

Aiden shifted, seeming a bit uncomfortable as he chuckled.

"Uh, yeah. I definitely remember Daryl, though Nicholas might remember him even better than me." He joked, apparently expecting them to chuckle along with him since his own laughter clumsily fell off once they didn't.

"Well, uh, I'm glad you both came. Mom's been looking forward to it." Aiden said, trying to recover from the awkward fumble.

"She seemed excited. She's a nice woman. Right, babe?" Amity said, turning to Daryl with another fond smile.

It was hard for her to suppress a chuckle at the way his eyes widened slightly at the term of endearment she used.

Though she kept her eyes on Daryl as he grunted out a noise of some sort of agreement, Amity saw the slight surprise on Aiden's face.

As much as the couple didn't try to hide their relationship status, they weren't exactly touchy-feely, and Amity figured Aiden had missed the memo.

She was more than happy to clear that up for him, and it seemed Daryl was as well- if the start of their interaction was any indication.

"We're going to keep mingling, Aiden. You have a good night." Amity chirped then, more than happy to end the conversation and tug Daryl along to an emptier space in the room.

Once they paused again, Amity leaned into the man and pushed herself up on the balls of her feet to murmur in his ear.

"Ready to go?" She asked and was not surprised at his immediate agreement.

Taking his hand, Amity worked the room with her old expertise on how to be invisible in such a setting. Sometimes it was best to stand out, but sometimes it was best to disappear.

With well-placed smiles, small greetings, and by taking a specific path through the room towards the kitchen and backdoor, Amity made their exit as low-key as possible with Daryl at her side. It was a bit difficult since he tended to draw eyes and attention from the people of Alexandria like nobody's business.

At the same time, she was ensuring that the partygoer's remembered seeing them, which meant they would have been recognized as showing up and participating.

It was a delicate line to walk.

Once they were outside, jogging through the backyard and around the side of the house to the front sidewalk, Amity couldn't hold back an elated laugh.

The sound drew Daryl's eyes as if the noise was a siren's song tuned just for him.

"Have fun?" He asked her and her laugh fell off but her smile remained as she looked at him.

"It could have been worse." She reasoned. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Ain't that big of a deal." Daryl muttered, never knowing what to do with any sort of gratitude.

Instead of calling him on it, Amity simply reached out for his hand and threaded her fingers through his.

Together, they began to walk down the sidewalk towards their home until the sound of one of the front doors opening cut through the still night air.

"Daryl!... Oh, and Amity!" Their names being called out wasn't what either of them had expected but once she turned and spotted Aaron standing on the porch of the house closest to them, Amity smiled.

"Hey, Aaron!" She greeted, giving Daryl's hand a soft squeeze to tell him to simply play nice and also in hopes that he wouldn't try to pull away from her, but to her surprise, the hunter actually made conversation and held fast.

"Thought you were going to that party over there," Daryl said.

"Oh, I was never going to go 'cause of Eric's ankle, thank God." Aaron dismissed with a chuckle.

"Why the hell did you tell me to go, then?" Daryl asked, incredulous as he bristled.

Amity wondered when this conversation had happened, but it at least explained a bit of Daryl's change of heart about the social event. She was glad that it seemed that Daryl's circle of trust was expanding at least a small bit.

She wondered what it was about Aaron that led to it. At the same time, she thought she understood though.

Aaron was one of those types that you just liked. That, and she had seen firsthand that he wasn't completely useless out there.

Maybe Daryl had witnessed the same.

"I said try." Aaron corrected before smiling and nodding back towards Deanna's house. "It seems that you did. It's a thought that counts thing."

Amity softly laughed at that, looking over at Daryl and meeting his eyes for a moment to read his slight confusion and hesitance.

"Alright." He grunted, and made to leave, tugging on Amity's hand a bit.

"Hey, come in." Aaron called out, stopping them in their tracks. "Have some dinner."

The couple hesitated, Amity looking to Daryl now.

He had gone with her to the party after all, now any more socializing that night was going to be his call.

It seemed Aaron recognized that too.

"Come on, man. It's some pretty serious spaghetti." Aaron persuaded.

"Free food." Amity sing-songed, smiling playfully at Daryl who looked at her then rolled his eyes before grunting out a noise of consent and leading the way to the porch.

Amity caught Aaron's eye and the man winked at her, recognizing the effectiveness of their joint efforts.

Once inside, Amity let go of Daryl's hand and headed to the kitchen where Eric was perched on the countertop, stirring a pot on the stove.

"Impressive." She called out, making the man jump, but once he recognized her, he beamed.

"Amity, hey! Did Aaron drag you in? Thank God! I've been dying cooped up in here! Better than over at that party though." He rambled, and surprisingly, Amity felt at ease immediately.

"Call me your entertainment for the evening." She joked, looking back to where Aaron and Daryl stood in the entrance between the dining room and kitchen.

"Well, both Daryl and I, that is." She elaborated.

At the mention of the man, Eric careened his neck to spot the hunter and wave, flinging a bit of spaghetti sauce from the wooden spoon he had been using to stir with as he did so.

Amity bit back a laugh and moved to help the man.

Soon enough, dinner was complete and Aaron was helping Eric to the table before serving them all generous portions of the pasta.

Daryl dug in immediately, slurping up the food in the animalistic way of his that Amity didn't even think twice about now as she delicately spun her own meal around her fork.

She caught Eric smiling into his wine, trying to hide his amusement at Daryl's table manners, but there was no malice or disgust behind the action. Just friendly amusement and interest.

"Thanks," Daryl grunted out after a moment and Amity echoed the sentiment before taking a sip of her own wine.

"Mmm, when you're out there, if you happen to be in a store or something, Mrs. Neudermyer is really looking for a pasta maker." Eric began, chattering in the way that he did, but it was his words that confused Amity.

Her brow furrowed as the man continued to ramble.

"And we're all really trying to get her to shut up about it. I mean, we have crates of dried pasta in here, but she wants to make her own or something. I really think she just wants something to talk about, so if you see one out on your travels, it would go a long way to..." He trailed off after a moment, apparently finally catching the looks of confusion that Amity and Daryl were giving him and the pointed one that his partner was trying desperately to convey.

"...I thought it was done." Eric said, almost apologetically before turning to his partner specifically. "You didn't ask him already?"

"Ask me what?"

"Ask him what?"

Amity and Daryl spoke at once and Aaron looked between them before sighing and pushing himself up from the table.

"I guess... maybe it's best if I talk to both of you." He said and Eric nodded in agreement.

"It is." He said firmly, looking at Amity with something behind his eyes that was almost sympathy, but also maybe solidarity.

Amity was still confused, but she followed Aaron's gestures and trailed along behind him and Daryl as they stepped through a door that apparently led to the home's garage.

Daryl went through the threshold first, something within the space apparently catching his attention, and once Amity joined Aaron in the doorway, she bit back a smile.

Daryl was obviously a bit confused, but excitement and interest was on his face as plain as day.

"When I got the place, there was that frame and some parts and equipment," Aaron explained, "Whoever lived here built them."

"It's a lot of parts for one bike," Daryl replied, wandering around and looking at all of the pieces that were laid out across the garage.

"Whenever I came across any parts out there, I brought them back." Aaron informed, shrugging slightly as he exchanged a glance with Amity. "I didn't know what I'd need."

Amity offered a smile of understanding, she wouldn't know where to begin with the mechanical parts either, but she knew that Daryl definitely did.

As Aaron wandered further into the garage to join her hunter, however, she stayed put in the doorway.

"I always thought I'd learn how to do it, but I get the feeling you already know what to do with it." Aaron said, his expression more serious now as he hesitated before adding, "And the thing is... you're going to need a bike."

"Why?" Daryl asked, and Amity bit her tongue.

The woman already caught up to what was going to be said next.

She knew that what Aaron had in mind would be perfect for Daryl, but that didn't mean that it sat right in her stomach.

"I told Deanna not to give you a job because I think I have one for you." Aaron said, his attention fully on Daryl now.

"I'd like you to be Alexandria's other recruiter." He stated. "I don't want Eric risking his life anymore."

"You want me risking mine, right?" Daryl replied shortly, echoing the words in Amity's head.

The hunter's eyes flickered to her and she felt them, but she kept her gaze solidly on the covered bike frame rather than meet his.

She wasn't going to be the say-so in this. No matter how uneasy the whole idea made her feel.

Bad things happened when they were split up and now Daryl would be leaving the walls without her for who knew how long to approach complete strangers.

"Yeah, because you know what you're doing." Aaron defended. "You're good out there, but you don't _belong_ out there. I know it's hard getting used to people getting used to you and I understand that right now you need to be out there sometimes. So do I."

As he spoke, Daryl moved to where the bike frame was that Amity was staring at and peeked under the cover. He was listening to Aaron, that was clear by how he kept looking up at the man before glancing at Amity, but his face betrayed nothing about what he was thinking of the offer.

"But the main reason why I want you to help me recruit is because you do know the difference between a _good_ person and a bad person." Aaron said, looking back at Amity himself as Daryl shifted under the weight of his words.

They knew the difference between good and bad people because they had more than their fair share of experience with the latter.

"We would be the first line of defense out there, and then Amity, you'd be our second. You'll see whoever we bring in, but we need to be sure even before we bring them in. It just makes everything more certain." Aaron explained, now appealing to the redhead who had clammed up from the moment she had caught onto his line of thinking. "It'll make it less likely that someone will slip through the cracks."

Amity knew the man wasn't stupid, not like many of the Alexandrians. She knew that he could read the unease in her posture.

She let her gaze flicker up to the hunter's who stood across the garage from her for just a moment, and in that moment, she knew what he was going to say even before he said it.

"I got nothing else to do." Daryl said with a shrug, his eyes following Amity as she abruptly turned to go back into the house without a word to either of the men she was leaving behind.

She passed Eric as she beelined for the front door, ignoring him as he called her name and only feeling slightly bad about it.

Logically, Amity knew that she was being dramatic, but she couldn't shake the sense of dread that had settled into her chest the moment that she knew Daryl was going to accept his new job.

It wasn't that Amity didn't see how it suited him, or that she didn't think he could take care of himself, but there was an anxiety that came with being away from him ever since she had been kidnapped and locked up in Woodbury.

It was a pattern in their lives.

Amity was away from Daryl, she was kidnapped, shot, and assaulted. She went off with Merle without Daryl, she was shot. She went to the farm with Michael, without Daryl, and she was bit. The prison was attacked and she was seperated from Daryl and... She closed off her racing train of thoughts as she all but jumped down the steps of Aaron and Eric's porch.

Her shoes hit pavement and she half-jogged down the road, knowing that it wouldn't be long before Daryl would be following her.

She made it to their house quick enough, but she didn't stop there. Amity pushed past the familiar building until she was met with a wall at the complete opposite end of the community.

Staring up at the steel in the darkness, Amity forced herself to take deeper breaths.

There were walls now. She was safer now than she had been in a long time.

...But Daryl wouldn't be safe outside of them.

Out there, there were still people like Kipp and Gareth and Dawn and the Governor.

There were still walkers around every turn and who knew what else.

He would be out there and if anything went down, she could just never know what happened to him.

She felt her breathing quicken again and quickly moved to sit within the darker shadows that the walls provided thanks to the moon in the sky that night.

Amity pressed her forehead to her knees as she brought them to her chest, forcing another deep breath in and out.

"Amity." A gruff voice said from nearby, causing her to jump.

She looked up and spotted Daryl immediately and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You have to stop doing that." She told him, her voice tighter than she had intended for it to be.

The hunter said nothing in return, instead choosing to take a seat next to her, his back leaning against the giant steel walls.

They sat in silence, Amity naturally matching her breathing with his until she was left with nothing more than trembling fingers and a slight burning behind her eyes.

She leaned against his sturdy arm, her head falling to settle on his shoulder as they looked out into the dark streets of Alexandria together.

A ways away, she could hear the sounds from the party that was still going on. She recognized Abraham's booming laugh, but that was all she could decipher from how far away they were.

"I'm not scared." Amity stated firmly, her voice cutting through the silence that was between them as if Daryl had accused her of as much.

"You don't gotta be," Daryl replied, as if Amity had said the exact opposite.

Truthfully, maybe she had meant the exact opposite.

"We're supposed to have each other's backs." She reminded him, her voice quieter than it had been with her earlier declaration.

"I still got your back, girl," He retorted, but she shook her head, sitting up straight now so that she could look at him.

"But I won't be able to have yours. I'll have these walls, but you'll be out there..." She trailed off until a rough hand was grasping her chin, tilting her head back until her eyes met Daryl's.

Even in the moonlight his eyes were beautiful and in the moonlight, he was simply moreso.

"I can handle myself, woman," Daryl grumbled and instantly, Amity moved to shove his hand away, but the man didn't budge.

If anything, his grip tightened slightly to keep her attention.

"I can handle myself and you can handle your own too. You think I'd be leavin' you if I thought somethin' was gonna happen?" He asked her, his tone a bit indignant.

Truthfully, Amity knew he wouldn't. They didn't make them more protective than Daryl Dixon- that was a fact.

"You will always come back to me?" Amity said, meaning it as a statement, but it came out as more of a question.

A smirk pulled at one corner of Daryl's lips and he nodded his head.

"Ain't a damn thing in this world or the next that could keep me from you, Red," He told her, his words slowly melting away the anxiety that had been eating at her.

When a man like Daryl Dixon said something like that, you were hard pressed not to believe it.

"I'll hold you to that." Amity whispered, allowing herself to be pulled forward by the hand grasping her jaw until her lips met his. A familiar wave of heat and contentment swept over her and she pushed herself closer, her hands grasping broad shoulders as she rearranged to sit between his legs.

She allowed herself to get lost in him. To take solace in their moments of peace in the dark.

"Take me home." She requested, and within seconds, they were both on their feet, her being pulled up by capable arms and wrapped up in them seconds later.

"Yes m'am."


End file.
